The Effect of the Environment on Saint Petersburg's Cultural Heritage

This book addresses the effects of the environment on Saint Petersburg's cultural heritage. It summarizes the results of long-term, large-scale monitoring of monuments in, and the environment (air, soil, vegetation) of, the historical Saint Petersburg Necropolis. The book offers detailed descriptions of the unique collection of decorative stones in the Necropolis and discusses the deposits that were most likely used to create them. In addition, it characterizes the processes of stone and bronze monuments' degradation in response to physical, chemical and biogenic influences. Special attention is paid to describing the monitoring methodology and the structure of the monitoring information database. Drawing on the methodologies and cases presented here, the book subsequently puts forward a strategy for the conservation and restoration of these unique monuments. This book approaches practical questions of monuments preservation that will be of interest to museum staff, restorers and experts in various fields (geologists, biologists, chemists, engineers, etc.) whose work involves problems of cultural heritage preservation. The book is interesting for everyone who is not indifferent to the history and preserving of the world culture.

Contenu
ContentsIntroduction The Museum Necropolis of St. Petersburg. A historical review 1. The stone materials of the monuments 1.1. Marble 1.2. Limestone 1.3. Granite and other hard rocks 2. The environmental conditions 2.1. The air environment 2.2. The condition of soils 2.3. Vegetation 3. The peculiarities of the destruction 3.1. The major destruction of stone 3.2. The biological damage of the stone 3.3. The formation of gypsum enriched patina on marble and limestone 3.4. Patina formation on bronze 4. Evaluation of monuments state and restoration effects 4.1. A.I. Kosikovskiy monument 4.1.1. The results of the evaluation of state before restoration 4.1.2. The restoration works 4.1.3. The evaluation of state after restoration 4.2. E.A. and V.N. Kochubej monument 4.2.1. The restoration works 4.2.2. The evaluation of state 4.3. A.Ja. Okhotnikov monument 4.3.1. The restoration works 4.3.2. The evaluation of state 4.4. M.V. Lomonosov monument 4.4.1. The restoration works 4.4.2. The evaluation of state 4.5. V.V. Stasov monument 4.5.1. The evaluation of the bronze figure state 4.5.2. The evaluation of granite boulder state5. Approaches and methods for monitoring and monument protection 5.1. The main stages of evaluation 5.2. Visual inspection of the monuments. The sampling 5.3. Qualimetric evaluation of state 5.4. Mapping of the material destruction forms 5.5. Application of laser scanning 5.6. Laboratory instrumental methods 5.7. The creation and filling of database6. The experience of the monument protection from biological damage Conclusion ReferencesINDEXCONTRIBUTORS