[Centre for Egyptological Studies of the RAS]

Projects

Conservation of Coptic Icons

In 1999 the collaborators of the Centre for Egyptological Studies of RAS together with the specialists from the Grabar Frt Conservation Center took part in the joint project established by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute of Egyptological and Arabic Studies in Cairo, the American Research Center in Egypt, the Institute of Coptic Studies (ARE) with the support of the Supreme Council of Antiquity. The aim of the first stage of the project was to describe of the Coptic icons kept in the churches and to study the state of preservation and possibility to restore the most damaged icons. The groups of conservators worked on the whole territory of Egypt: from the Delta till the remote settlements of the Upper Egypt. The result of this stage was the description of more than 2000 Coptic icons (30 of them were Medieval). It was maid both from the point of view of restoration and of history of art. There were selected the icons which need immediate conservation and restoration because of the poor state of preservation and great historical and cultural value. The interests of the Coptic church were also taken into account — the Church offered to restore the most respected and «miracle-working» icons.

A.Gormatiuk and H. Tolmacheva at work

The next stage of the project was closely connected with the celebration of 2000 years of the stay of the Holy Family in Egypt. On this stage medieval icons from the Church of Virgin Mary «Haret Zweila» were restored. The specialists from the Grabar Art Conservation Center and the CES RAS (Alexander A. Gormatiuk, Victor V. Zanozin and Elena G. Tolmacheva) together with Egyptian colleagues carried out the work on the conservation and restoration of the Coptic icons in several restoration workshops: in Fayum (Deir el-Azhar), in the Church of Virgin Mary «Haret Zweila», in the Church of Holy Virgin «Al-Mo'allaqa» (Old Cairo). The work continued from November 2001 till April 2002.

The Church of Holy Virgin «Al-Mo'allaqa» («hanging church») belongs to the famous complex of the Christian churches of Old Cairo, which is situated close to Roman fortress Babylon. The church itself was established in III–IV centuries. This church is one of the most respected among Copts. According to the Christian legend, the Holy Family stayed at this place during their escape to Egypt. The patriarchal residence was there for a long time. So, the Church of Holy Virgin «Al-Mo'allaqa» was a place of pilgrimage and veneration since the very beginning of its existence. Perhaps, this explains of the richness and multiplicity of the icons, which are exhibited in the church.

During the project Russian specialists restored (and took part in different restoration and conservation processes) 26 icons from this church. Most of them were in the bad state of preservation. But the most difficult problem was the so-called «re-restoration». The whole collection of icons from this church was unprofessionally restored several years ago during the last reparation of the church. As a result most of the icons were irreparably damaged, the original painting was either lost or unprofessionally covered with the new layer of restoration preparation layer. The retouching not only covered original painting but distorted the whole composition of the icon. Materials and technologies, which were used during the last «restoration», became another problem. Almost all icons were covered with the layer of synthetic glue which caused peeling and separation of the paint layer. Besides, during the previous conservation works wax was used, the material, which is not acceptable for Egyptian climate. It is also very difficult to remove wax. We were forced to do it mechanically, with the scalpel. It should also be mentioned that the surface of the icon, covered with wax is liable to dirtying and very often is covered with the layer of dust and soot.

The icons of all the styles and periods, which existed in Egypt are represented in the collection of the church.

Medieval icons: among them the most respectable is the icon of St. Mark who, according to the legend, established the Coptic church itself.
Icons of XVII century: their specific feature is technology, most of them painted on paper, which became the problem for the conservators. Finally, special cellulose paste, known in Russian restoration practice, was used for filling the losses.
Icons of XVII–XIX centuries. The artists used more technological manner of painting at that time. So, the state of conservation of these icons was better. It is interesting to note that one Russian icon was found in this collection.
Icons of XVII–XIX centuries painted by foreign artists: Armenian, Greek, Syrian ones. During the previous restoration these icons were duplicated into the new support with wax.
Icons of different schools, painted by different artists, in poor condition. Among them, there is a very interesting medieval icon with the depiction of Jesus Christ enthroned. The state of preservation of the original painting is very poor (only 20%). During the cleaning of the icon and making the copy-reconstruction it was found that this icon has been repainted and renewed repeatedly. According to the original drowning scratched on the preparation layer the restorer reconstructed the whole composition of the icon.

The results of this stage of the project are really impressive. Russian and Egyptian specialists restored about 200 icons from different Coptic churches of Egypt. The methods and technologies of the Russian restoration school gave good and very effective results.

H. Tolmacheva

Reports:

2003 >>>>
2002

Bibliography:

Горматюк А.А. Икона-эпистилий из каирского храма Мария Харет Зуэйла. Результаты реставраций и исследований // Искусство христианского мира. Сб. статей. —Вып. 4 —М., 2001.
Горматюк А.А. Особенности реставрации и почитания икон в Египте // История и культура древнего и раннехристианского Египта. —М., 2001. — С. 45–55.
Занозин В.В. Образы всадников — святых мучеников в монастыре св. Антония Великого // Там же. — С. 56–63.
Горматюк А.А. Образы христианского Востока. Коллекция икон из храма Богоматери "эль-Муаллака" в Старом Каире // Мир музея 4 (2002). — С. 47–48