CONSERVAZIONE RESTAURO DIPINTI

Profile

I started working in the field of art conservation-restoration, maintenance and consultancy in 1980, after earning my degree in restoration at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD) and the Florence restoration workshops of the Scuola di Alta Formazione (SAF) in paintings on wood and canvas. In 2000 the Italian ministry appointed me to teach the relining course for the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, a position that was renewed in 2012.
However, my education actually goes back to 1972, when I trained under Prof. Edo Masini, former technical director of the painting restoration laboratory of the Fortezza da Basso of the OPD and a prominent Florentine restorer.
As Antonio Paolucci, superintendent at the time, wrote in an article about Masini, “While he fully embraced the modern culture of restoration, Masini managed to conserve, improve and convey to his students the ‘ancient’ virtues of great Florentine craftsmanship, familiarity with techniques and materials, perfect manual skills, pragmatic operating flexibility, versatility, wisdom, the lucid precision of taste.”

First as a trainee and then as a collaborator, I was able to benefit from the advice and guidance of this great master until shortly before he died in 1991. Over the years, I have worked with Florence’s most important museums, such as the Galleria Palatina and the Uffizi, as well as other leading national and international institutions. As a result, I had the opportunity to restore masterpieces such as Giotto’s Badia Polyptych, Caravaggio’s Medusa, Masaccio’s San Giovenale Triptych and other works.
On an international level, I have been especially active with the Republic of Croatia. In 1994 I was appointed head restorer of the ARCH Foundation (Art Restoration for Cultural Heritage) founded by Francesca Thyssen Bornemisza Von Habsburg for an important international project that commenced during a particularly difficult period for the country, which was still at war. The project called for safeguarding and restoring works of art and, as a result, I set up and led a team of international colleagues who worked alongside Croatian restorers. The project was completed successfully and gained major international recognition. It also gave me the chance to meet the Croatian authorities responsible for the National Institute for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, with which I continue to collaborate today.