GIORGIO CAPRIOTTI
Graduated and advanced specialized, as Conservator Restorer of painted surfaces on several supports (wood, mural paintings, canvas, terracotta) and on lithic materials, at the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro, Rome (1984) - Graduated in History of Art at the University "La Sapienza", Rome (1994). - Director of the Restoration Laboratory of the District of Viterbo (2000-2008).
Professor at The Studies University of Tuscia, Viterbo, course of “Theory and techniques of restoration – wooden painted surfaces” (2000-2024). - Professor at the Trinity College Rome Campus, Course of “Art Conservation” (2017-2024) - Consultant for International institutions as ICCROM, The Getty Conservation Institute, UNESCO, Tokyo Waseda University, addressed in organizing professional expertise and training activities. Among the main works carried out, the gilded stuccoes Glory at St. Andrea al Quirinale (Rome) by G. L. Bernini, the Carracci’s Gallery at Palazzo Farnese (Rome) by Annibale Carracci, the monumental marble relief Altar of Pope Leo the Great (1640-53) in St.Peter Basilic (Rome,Vatican) by Alessandro Algardi.
SANTE GUIDO
Restorer and art historian, he holds teaching positions in artistic techniques and restoration principles at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the University of Trento and the University of RomaTre. He has curated numerous exhibitions of sacred art also on behalf of the Vatican Museums and has over 90 scientific publications. Specializing in the restoration of works in marble, semi-precious stones and metals, he has been working for the Vatican City for over thirty years. For the Vatican Museums he restored the Galley Fountain in lead; the bronzes of the main altar, the altars of the transept, the cathedra and the Byzantine main door beyond the marble Ciborium by Arnolfo di Cambio in San Paolo Fuori le Mura; in S. Maria Maggiore: the monumental altar of the Salus Populi Romani, the Baptistery by Giuseppe Valadier, the Philip IV by Gianlorenzo Bernini, the monumental tabernacle of the Sistine Chapel as well as the Nativity scene by Arnolfo di Cambio. In St. Peter's Basilica: the bronze tombs of Pope Sixtus IV and Pope Innocent VIII by Antonio del Pollaiolo and at the Treasure Museum: the Crux Vaticana and the Stauroteca Maggiore Vaticana from the Byzantine age in gold and gilded silver, the 15th century Vatican Rooster in gilded bronze as well as dozens of other ecclesiastical artefacts in precious metals.
GIUSEPPE MANTELLA
Restorer of works of art with national and international assignments in Malta, Albania, Israel and China. Director of the Fabbriceria of the Cathedral of Gerace and Director of the Cultural Heritage Office of the Diocese of Locri-Gerace (Reggio Calabria). He has restored more than 40 paintings by Mattia Preti - of whom he is an internationally recognized expert - as well as works by Simone Martini, Agnolo Daddi, Battistello Caracciolo, Gregorio Preti. The restoration activity involved highly relevant marble statuary by Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila and, at the Capitoline Museums, the bust of Medusa and the enthroned statue of Pope Urban VIII Barberini. In bronze we find examples such as: the Philosopher's Head and the Porticelli Head, both from the 5th century BC. at the Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, the large enthroned statue of Pope Innocent X by Alessandro Algardi, at the Capitoline Museums, the main altar in gilded bronze and the monumental apsidal glory in gilded copper at the cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Valletta, Malta. Knight of Merit of the Italian Republic for having contributed to the knowledge of Italian culture and art in the world.
SUSANNA SARMATI
Conservator-restorer graduated from the Central Institute for Restoration in Rome. She has been working since 1987 in the field of Cultural Heritage for Superintendencies, Municipalities, Ecclesiastical bodies, etc., both in Italy and abroad. She has designed and directed numerous restorations, including the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem (2010-20). She has carried out important restorations including the marble frieze by Angelo Zanelli in the Patria altar (2023); the frescoes in the Cloister of the Church of S. Francesco a Ripa (2023); the façade on Via del Corso of Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, (2021); the frescoes in the Cloister of Santa Maria Nova (2017); the medieval frescoes in the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs in the Roman Forum (2016); the ciborium by Arnolfo di
Cambio in the Basilica of S. Cecilia (2006-2015); Giovan Battista Piranesi's high altar in the church of Santa Maria del Priorato (2015); the stuccoes in the Flavian Amphitheatre (2000-2011). She collaborates with the Alma Mater University of Bologna in the organization of worksite schools and in professional training. The gilded wooden canopy by Antonio Calcioni to a design by Andrea Pozzo, in Foligno Cathedral, a faithful copy of the one erected by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in St. Peter's in Rome (2000-2002).
CARLO USAI
Carlo Usai is an Istituto Centrale per il Restauro di Roma qualified restorer in 1982 in the field of "Metals and antique stones" and has been working for more than forty years both in Italy and abroad, working mainly on monuments and public cultural property of particular historical and artistic importance. Interventions are based on conservative criteria: marble and bronze works are cleaned and restored using scientific and state-of-the-art methods. Major restorations include: Equestrian Statue of Victor Emmanuel II and the quadriga representing Liberty - Vittoriano in Rome, Complex of the Four Fountains in Rome, Sculptural Group Lion Biting Horse at the Capitoline Museums, Portico of Octavia in Rome, Arch of Constantine in Rome, Bronze statue of the Redentore in Nuoro, Copper statue of Madonna of Montemario in Rome, Bronze Doors (by Bonanno Pisano and Barisano da Trani) of the Cathedral of Monreale (PA), Reconstruction of the Etruscan chariots of the Regolini Galassi Tomb at the Vatican Museums. .He has worked extensively in France and in non-European countries such as: Israel – Jerusalem, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey and China.
PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
MALLIO FALCIONI
Photographer specialized in traditional photography and multi-spectral imaging for cultural items. He was professor at the Rome University of Fine
Arts from 2004 to 2023. His images have been published in numerous works,
many of which focus on the restoration of cultural heritage. His photographic
career began in advertising, transitioning to cultural heritage in the 1990s. He
participated in Enel Light for Art project, traveling in Italy and taking part in
photographic campaigns in Mexico, Palestine, and Egypt. Collaborating with
the Vatican since 1996, he contributed to Franco Cosimo Panini’s editorial work on the Vatican Basilica for the Jubilee of 2000. Over approximately thirty years of collaboration with the Fabbrica di San Pietro, he supported restoration works by documenting them photographically and conducting
multispectral investigations, revealing details of the artworks not visible to the human eye. Among his main projects are the documentation of Michelangelo's famous Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the monumental marble relief of Pope Leo the Greats Altar by Alessandro Algarardi in St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican, Raphael Sanzio's Triumph of Galatea at Villa Farnesina in Rome, the bronze tombs of Pope Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII by Antonio del Pollaiolo in the Vatican, the Vatican Crucifix and the Major Stauroteca in gold and silver at the treasure museum in the Vatican, the Wooden Crucifix of St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Madonna della Colonna also in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.