Gian Maria Casella

Gian Maria Casella, born in Brescia in 1940, fell in love with art at an early age: he started to restore paintings when he was just fourteen, after studying with the Oratorian Fathers of the city. He began his apprenticeship in the restoration workshop of Gianbattista Bertelli, where he was able to gain direct experience of working on paintings, and went on to study the technical and practical aspects of the craft in depth, obtaining a professional qualification.

Restauration and Conservation

 In 1961 he opened a workshop of his own. With over fifty years of experience now under his belt, he has collaborated with the main fine arts services in Italy and with important museums, from the Pinacoteca di Brera to the Venaria Reale and from the Galleria Sabauda to the Pinacoteca Civica in Alessandria. Over these years his skill and expertise have been brought to bear on works by Ceruti, on Titian’s Averoldi Polyptych and on the paintings of Raphael and Caravaggio. His studio, in the city centre, has seen the passage of great figures in the historiography of art, from Longhi to Testori and from Ballarin to Mina Gregori, thanks to whom Casella has been able to deepen his knowledge and increase his capacity to approach works of art in a critical and analytical manner.

Gian Maria Casella makes use of the most up-to-date technology, from chemical analysis to methods of visual diagnosis, but always from the privileged perspective of first-hand experience, built up over decades, which has allowed him to gain a thorough understanding of materials and techniques of execution, as well as to recognize different types of deterioration and the most suitable modes of intervention, while respecting the original material and expressive qualities of the work. Thanks to this experience, and to his skill and proven expertise, the court in Brescia has appointed him its official appraiser for the most delicate legal proceedings. A passion and a mastery that refuse to contemplate retirement: in fact Gian Maria Casella, at the age of eighty, continues his efforts to preserve beauty with dedication and love.

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