The main methods of old believers' restoration and imitation of ancient icon painting in the 19th - early 20th centuries

The article is devoted to the review of main techniques of Old Believers restoration and imitation of ancient icons in the 19th - early 20th centuries on the example of Mstyora and Nevyansk. The artistic heritage of these Russian icon-painting centers has been most actively researched in recent years at the State Research Institute for Restoration (GOSNIIR). The main emphasis is placed on elucidation the technical side of the activities of Old Believer artists, who were the first icon restorers in Russia. Firstly, the main methods of imitating antiquity in icons by the Mstyorichs are analyzed. The methods of obtaining four different types of artificial craquelure are described: 1) primer craquelure, 2) formed in the upper layers of paint and varnish, 3) drawn, 4) scratched with a sharp metal tool. Other methods of “aging” the restored areas of the image (paint splashing, mechanical incisions, covering icons with "old" olive oil, etc.) are reviewed on specific examples. The second part of the article describes the nature of Old Believers' restoration in Nevyansk. The conclusion is made about the opposite nature of this activity in the Ural workshops: the absence of the practice of imitating antiquity and aging of icons, as well as the tradition of complete renewing (repainting) of icons. In the mining and metallurgical Urals, the main activity of “restorers” was aimed at very delicate renovation (partial repainting in the tone of authentic colours) of previously created local Urals icons. It should be especially emphasized that this publication for the first time presents the results of microscopic research of a number of icon-painting works from private and museum collections, which underwent such "mending" in the workshops of the mentioned centers of Old Believers.