Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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Icon painters, ceramicists, mosaicists, carpenters, plasterers, chemists, biologists, and materials scientists… These are all restorers who work at the intersection of a wide variety of professions. They restore stone and wooden architectural monuments, antique furniture, stucco, archaeological artifacts, oil paintings, and frescoes. In the capital, such specialists are trained inCollege of Architecture, Design and Reengineering No. 26 ("26 FRAME").
Ahead of Restorer's Day, celebrated on March 5, a mos.ru correspondent visited the college and learned how future custodians of cultural heritage are being nurtured.
Three temporal dimensions of the profession
At the 26 KADR College, students study 38 in-demand professions in construction, manufacturing, information technology, creative industries, and finance. They also have a Restoration department—the only one in the city's education system that trains multidisciplinary specialists in their field. It's located in one of the college buildings at 27 Trofimova Street, Building 2. Entering the five-story building feels like stepping into a vast workshop. Still lifes and portraits hang on the walls in the hallways. The doors to some of the workshops are decorated with architraves or canopies resembling the slope of a roof.
"We train students in two areas: restoration of architectural monuments and restoration of museum objects. Within these large groups, students can also choose a more specific focus: the former focus on wooden, brick, and stone structures, while the latter focus on monumental, oil, and tempera (an ancient technique of painting with water-based paints) painting, as well as wood and stone objects. In addition, all students gain fundamental knowledge in general history, art history, chemistry, biology, and materials science. After all, a restorer must understand how an object was created, how it was used, how it aged, and how to preserve it without destroying it. A restorer's commandment is similar to a doctor's: do no harm. We instill in our students a love and respect for cultural heritage. Our profession is unique in that it exists in three time dimensions. We work with the past in the present for the future, preserving monuments for posterity," said Dmitry Tuzov, head of the Restoration Department.
Students typically enter college after ninth grade. Studies last three years, with practical training accounting for at least 70 percent of the curriculum. In their first year, students learn the basics of the profession. They make things with their own hands before moving on to restoration. Future icon painters create icon boards, while construction restorers are trained as masons, painters, and plasterers.
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Carpenters, upholsterers, and inlayists all rolled into one
We climb up to the third floor and find ourselves in a woodworking shop where first-year students are working. Sawdust flies, and the smell of wood fills the air. Someone is marking out lines on paper, someone is planing parts at a workbench. One student is making a tenon joint for a stool.
"Later, it will need to be broken down and restored—that's how they develop basic restoration skills. Starting in their second year, we've been entrusting our students with antique furniture from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Typically, it's brought to us by caring individuals who want to preserve an antique piece. Many ask us to restore a family heirloom. I graduated from the 26 KADR College and now teach at my home. I teach woodworking and prepare students for professional championships. Competitions are an opportunity to prove themselves. Our students traditionally take first place," noted teacher Anna Mursenkova.
Her student Ksenia Trunina won the competition for young restorers at the exhibition in 2025. "PROrestoration", as well as in the Moscow stage and final of the All-Russian Championship "Professionals"During her last year, she received a job offer, and now she combines her studies with working at a furniture design firm. Ksenia Trunina is a third-year student studying to restore stone and wooden architectural monuments.
"When I was a child, I often visited my grandfather in the countryside, and we made furniture together. So my childhood hobby grew into a profession. Wood is a complex material. It's fragile, there are many types, and you need to carefully select the right shade when replacing missing parts. A furniture restorer is also a jack-of-all-trades: they're a gilder, an upholsterer, an inlayist, and a carver. But college provides every opportunity to master this craft. During my studies, I restored a mahogany table and a 20th-century birch chair. I want to enroll in the Stroganov Russian State University of Art and Design to strengthen my skills in glass and ceramic restoration and thereby become a versatile specialist. Winning competitions will help with this—they give you an advantage when applying," she explained.
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Internships at the Moscow Kremlin and VDNKh
Students use a scientific approach and materials similar to those found in history. For example, they use an ancient recipe to make glue from sturgeon cartilage, and they use birch bark as a waterproofing layer when reconstructing huts. During the summer, a testing ground is set up near the college, where students give chapels from various regions of Russia a second life (those not listed as architectural monuments but at risk of deterioration without specialist intervention). They are delivered disassembled, damaged parts are restored on-site, missing ones are replaced, and their original appearance is recreated. They are then disassembled again and sent back to their native places. During school breaks, students also participate in expeditions in the Tver and Arkhangelsk regions, where they study monuments in their natural habitat and investigate the natural features that influence deterioration.
We enter the wooden architecture workshop. The partition inside is not an ordinary wall, but a real log house with windows, a door, and a gable roof. A bench adjacent to the "hut" displays peasant household items found during expeditions and restored. Among them are painted spinning wheels, dishes, and a washstand.
"Moscow archaeologists have heard of our team's professionalism and often provide artifacts. One day, they brought back fragments of stone they had discovered during excavations, covered in moss and lichen. It turned out to be a 17th-century tombstone. We cleaned it and secured it, and the slab is now on display in
Museum of MoscowWe restored stone sarcophagi from the 15th and 16th centuries. Cultural institutions also contact us. At the request of the Black Sea Fleet History Museum and the Palace of Children and Youth Creativity “Sevastopolets” "We restored a ship's cannon from a Crimean War-era vessel. All of these projects won prizes in the Moscow Restoration competition," Dmitry Tuzov emphasized.
College students are invited to intern with experienced craftsmen. They participated in the restoration of the Taynitskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, the Novodevichy Convent, fountains, and pavilions. VDNKh, Northern River Station, station decorations Moscow metroThey are currently helping to restore the Central Moscow Hippodrome.
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X-ray and microscope for canvases
The art studio is quiet. Students in the final year of the "Art Restoration" program are poring over their thesis projects. Vadim Morozov is restoring an oil painting depicting a moonlit seashore. The damaged areas of the paint are covered with tissue paper soaked in glue: this will strengthen them, and the student will later remove the paper with water. Using a microscope, he mends the tears in the canvas.
"This painting dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries; it was passed down in my family from generation to generation, including during the Great Patriotic War. It currently belongs to my grandmother. Once I'm done with the cracks, I'll remove the yellowed varnish from the paint, tint it, and apply a new coat of varnish. Then the painting will return to my grandmother," said Vadim Morozov.
Polina Karateeva restores a 19th-century icon from a church in the Ivanovo region to its original appearance. She points out that the artist's tempera paint is in the center. However, around the edges of the icon, images of halos are painted in oil. The piece has likely already been restored.
"The layers of paint applied over the original are called renovation overlays. To determine if there's anything underneath the oil, I'll send the icon for an X-ray. This will also allow me to assess the condition of the original layer: if it's damaged, I won't interfere. But if it's intact, I'll remove the renovation overlays and restore the painting. Meanwhile, I'm removing dirt from the reverse side and filling cracks in the wood with sawdust glue. This labor-intensive process requires patience, perseverance, and, of course, a love of art. I went to college because I wanted to preserve cultural heritage for future generations. And so it turned out: after restoration, the icon will return to its original church. College taught me everything I needed to know about tempera painting, and now I want to deepen my knowledge in oil painting restoration. I plan to enroll in the Ilya Glazunov Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture," shared Polina Karateeva.
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