Icon surgeons at work in Russia

It is painstaking work, a labour of love, removing layers of dirt and varnish to reveal the splendours underneath – and Belov, who has been restoring artworks for 22 years, has to beware of clever forgeries. One icon depicting all the Christian saints in minute detail, which would have served as a calendar for worshippers, appeared to be a 16th century work, but Belov was suspicious and decided to investigate further.

“All the religious holidays are shown, so I tried to identify the dates when the Russian saints were canonised. If the icon was forged, it wasa safe bet that the painter would have made a mistake over the dates. And that’s what happened,” Belov said.

“These forgeries started in the late 19th century, when interest in icons boomed in Russia. In this case, we discovered four layers of paint, which gave the impression of an original.” Identifying forgeries can save the restorers valuable time. The comparison with surgery is apt. Like the human body, each artwork poses its own difficulties, and extreme patience is required to patch up the damage.