Conservation Centre

The National Museum of Lithuania has had deep-rooted conservation traditions. In 1956, the conservation workshop was set up as a part of the Museum of History and Ethnography. Gradually, the workshop was transformed into the Department on Collection Protection and Maintenance. On October 15, 2001, the former Conservation Department founded in 1991 was reorganised and the Conservation Centre of the National Museum of Lithuania was established.

The mission of the Conservation Centre is to help preserve the cultural values of Lithuania by analysing and conserving them so that they are accessible to present and future generations. The Conservation Centre performs the following functions:

  • Technological, physical and chemical research of museum valuables;
  • Conservation and restoration of museum valuables with the help of the newest achievements of conservation science as well as the most suitable methods and materials;
  • Preventive conservation;
  • Continuous improvement of the knowledge and qualification of conservators.

The Conservation Centre carries out chemical and physical investigations, conserves and restores archaeological finds; ceramic, metal, wooden and polychrome, textile exhibits; easel painting; documents and books. Over a year, approximately 4,000 artefacts are conserved and restored. The conservators working at the Centre also perform preventive conservation – there is a computerized environmental control system installed in the depositories and expositions, which helps to observe the condition of exhibits, and to provide recommendations as to their preservation and display. Works on various topics of protection, investigation and restoration of cultural values prepared by conservators and researchers of the National Museum of Lithuania as well as other institutions are published in the serial publication Restauravimo metodika (Eng. Conservation Methods).

The Conservation Centre employs 33 conservators of different fields, 3 chemists-technologists, and 1 physicist-technologist. The conservators constantly develop their skills and knowledge by participating actively in various trainings, courses, seminars, and conferences as well as by preparing reports and articles on the topics of restoration and research for the Triennial Meetings of Conservators of the Baltic States that have been taking place since 1987. Currently, the conservators and technologists of the highest (10 people), first (12 people), second (8 people) and third (1 people) qualification categories assessed in the manner prescribed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania work in the Centre.

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Polychrome sculptures under conservation

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A vacuum table used for paper conservation

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SHIMADZU infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) with an automated microscope (AIM)

Following the implementation of the Japanese Cultural Assistance Project Provision of Conservation and Research Equipment to National Museum of Lithuania in 2004, the museum acquired the following modern research and conservation equipment: a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) with an infrared automated microscope (AIM), a stereomicroscope with a digital camera OLYMPUS, a vacuum table for paper conservation, a heated vacuum table for painting restoration, and an X-ray chamber SOFTEX. This has significantly improved the quality of the research and conservation of exhibits. Since this is almost the only available research equipment among the Lithuanian cultural institutions, it is also used for the investigations ordered by other organisations such as museums, archives, and libraries as well as for training purposes.


The structure of the Conservation Centre is the following:

Research Group
Archaeological Finds Group
Ceramics Group
Metal Group
Textile Group
Painting Group
Wood and Polychromy Group
Paper Group