Items subject to art expertise include antiques and works of monumental and easel painting, graphic art, decorative and applied arts, architectural monuments, sculptures, small-scale sculptures, musical instruments, and music literature; numismatics, faleristics, heraldry, and vexillology (coats of arms, flags); printed materials, audio and video recordings, and photography.
The main tasks of art expertise are:
- attributing a work (determining the artist, the period of creation, affiliation with a particular school, etc.);
- determining the artistic quality, historical significance, cultural value, and condition of the work;
- determining the appraised or insured value of the work;
- determining whether the work complies with the requirements of legislation on the protection of public morality.
Indicative list of issues to be addressed:
- Is the item provided for research an original (author’s work), a copy made on behalf of another author, or a copy made on behalf of the author?
- Who is the author of the work of art provided for research?
- Was this work of art subject to restoration (which fragment, etc.)?
- What is the value of the work of art being researched?
- Does the provided media contain works that promote the cult of violence and cruelty?
- Is the work provided for research authentic?
- Does the object provided for research belong to cultural values that have artistic, historical, ethnographic, or scientific significance?
- Is the information contained on the media provided for research pornographic in nature?
- Do the items provided for research belong to pornographic products?
- Are there any scenes of a pornographic nature in the work submitted for research (literary, cinematic, theatrical, entertaining)?
- Does the information contained on the media provided for research constitute child pornography?
- Does the object provided for research contain images of communist symbols?
- Does the object provided for research contain images of National Socialist (Nazi) symbols?
- If an expert is asked a question about the value of a work, the document on the appointment of the expert (engagement of an expert) must specify the period (time) by which the question must be resolved.