Начался последний этап обессоливания белокаменных колонн Большого театра
The last technological stage of desalting the Bolshoi Theatre Front Façade has begun, Mikhail Sidorov, the official representative of the general contractor.
“These architectural elements remaining from the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre were created by Joseph Bové to decorate the front façade of the building. In the last 200 years the white-stone blocks constituting the columns have been seriously damaged. After the fire of 1853, Albert Kavos to place the columns that have miraculously survived on pieces of birch bark which were to serve as water proofing. But in the course of time this protection disappeared, as well. Moisture began to penetrate into the columns base and to move up by porous limestone. Several decades afterwards, dark spots of salt and dirt, which had penetrated into the columns together with ground water, started to come out to the surface of the columns. Such wet spots are clearly seen on old photographs of the early XXth century”, M. Sidorov noted.
In 1941 explosion of an air bomb caused numerous “injuries” of the columns. Besides, their surface was damaged by ineffectual restorations during which even sandblast technology was used.
Restorers needed several years to restore the columns. Concrete blocks were put under their base which now separate them from the earth and do not permit the ground water to penetrate into the columns base. Within numerous months the restorers desalted the white-stone blocks to relieve the columns from dark salt spots. Special compositions of cellulose and clay were put on the white stone, the specialists had been wrapping them around the columns for ten-fourteen days. To enhance the effect of the compositions they are covered over by special film. Such multiple compresses significantly reduced the concentration of salt. The principal stage of restoring work was finished in autumn of 2010. It was then that the original ivory color was returned to the stone.
“In 2011 restorers decided to repeat the desalting procedures to secure the result and to guarantee safety of the white stone natural beauty for many years”, the official representative of the general contractor remarked.
“These architectural elements remaining from the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre were created by Joseph Bové to decorate the front façade of the building. In the last 200 years the white-stone blocks constituting the columns have been seriously damaged. After the fire of 1853, Albert Kavos to place the columns that have miraculously survived on pieces of birch bark which were to serve as water proofing. But in the course of time this protection disappeared, as well. Moisture began to penetrate into the columns base and to move up by porous limestone. Several decades afterwards, dark spots of salt and dirt, which had penetrated into the columns together with ground water, started to come out to the surface of the columns. Such wet spots are clearly seen on old photographs of the early XXth century”, M. Sidorov noted.
In 1941 explosion of an air bomb caused numerous “injuries” of the columns. Besides, their surface was damaged by ineffectual restorations during which even sandblast technology was used.
Restorers needed several years to restore the columns. Concrete blocks were put under their base which now separate them from the earth and do not permit the ground water to penetrate into the columns base. Within numerous months the restorers desalted the white-stone blocks to relieve the columns from dark salt spots. Special compositions of cellulose and clay were put on the white stone, the specialists had been wrapping them around the columns for ten-fourteen days. To enhance the effect of the compositions they are covered over by special film. Such multiple compresses significantly reduced the concentration of salt. The principal stage of restoring work was finished in autumn of 2010. It was then that the original ivory color was returned to the stone.
“In 2011 restorers decided to repeat the desalting procedures to secure the result and to guarantee safety of the white stone natural beauty for many years”, the official representative of the general contractor remarked.