Tour Guide, Milan, Italy
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Pinin Brambilla Barcilon was one of the essential restorers of XX Cent. She died on Saturday 12th December 2020, at the age of 95. She was born in 1925 in the town of Monza (very close to Milan, the town is famous due to the Monza Grand Prix). In 1978, she started with the last restoration work of the Last Supper, and it took her almost 20 years. She ended up in 1999. The Last Supper has been restored so many times in its history. It was painted in the dining-room of the monastery of the church Santa Maria delle Grazie: Leonardo started at the end of the year 1494 and finished it in 1998. Leonardo decided to make an experiment: the Last Supper was painted on a wall, but it's not a fresco, which means that it was not painted on a wet wall, but drywall. That's why its state of preservation has always been seen in such an attentive way.
In her book "La mia vita con Leonardo" (Mondadori Electa, 2015)- "My life with Leonardo"- Mrs Pinin Brambilla Barcilon wrote us of her 20 years of work concerning the restoration of the Last Supper, using a conservative method together with scientific researches. To take off the "overpainting ", which had been added during the centuries, she used Japanese paper.
Other famous restoration works by Mrs Pinin Brambilla are the paintings by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padoa and the frescos by Masolino da Panicale in the Baptistery Chapel in Castiglione Olona. She also collaborated with the Louvre Museum in Paris. From 1984 to 1993, she was a member of Rèunions annuals du Groupe pictures murals et musiques du Comitè de Conservation dell'Icom al Laboratoire des Monuments Historiques de France à Champs Sur Marne. In 2005 she founded and directed the laboratories of the Center for Conservation and Restoration "La Venaria Reale", a center of excellence for university training of restorers and advanced research in the cultural heritage sector. In 2011-2012, she was a member of the scientific committee for the restoration of Leonardo's "Sant'Anna" in the Louvre. She was a member of the ministerial committee for the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci in 2019. On 27 September 2019, the University of Turin has conferred her an honorary degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage.