Lilia M. Shvetskaya (1929–2012) was one of the legendary restorers of monuments in war-stricken Leningrad.

The crowning work of her life was the re-creation of gilded woodcarvings of the Golden Enfilade in the Catherine Palace, for which she sculpted numerous figure samples of nymphs, cupids, shepherdess heads, birds, flowers, rosettes and other details of Rastrelli’s intricate wall ornaments. Shvetskaya unraveled the 18th-century masters’ secret of complex dimensional compositions and reproduced it in her works.

She devoted 20 years of her life to the rebirth of the Amber Room. Her heads of beauties of various nations of the world, among which the African and Asian ones stand out, became the true masterpieces of restoration.

A high class professional, Shvetskaya worked brilliantly with classic sculptures in the palace interiors and reproduced lost artifacts in the Catherine and Alexander Parks, giving new life to art pieces from the past. Her latest works for the Alexander Park were the marvellous figures on the Large Chinese Bridge.

To commemorate the 65th anniversary of Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum issued a booklet dedicated to Lilia Shvetskaya, a great artist, sculptor and restorer.

On June 25, 2011 Lilia M. Shvetskaya was granted the title of Honorary Freewoman by the Administration of the Town of Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo).