Maurizio Marabelli

He graduated in Chemistry at the University of Rome with the vote of 108/110.
He received a scholarship to study at the National Institute of Health from 1962 to 1964.
In 1962 he achieved the qualification to practice as a chemist and in 1964 he achieved the qualification to teach Chemistry at the high school.
Since 1964 until his retirement in 2001 he has been working at the Central Institute of Restoration (Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities), where, from 1980 to 2001, he directed the laboratory of Chemistry .

He is author of about two hundred reports, one hundred and fifty publications and four books in the field of chemistry applied to cultural heritage. Together with Giuseppe Basile he is editor of the book “Leonardo – The Last Supper – Surveys, Research, Conservation.” Nardini publisher 2007. He has also edited the Proceedings of the first eight international conferences on non-destructive investigations for the preservation of artistic heritage.

He taught from 1967 to 2001 in the school for restorers ICR and from 1978 to 1988 in international courses ICCROM SPC, MPC, ARC; he has been involved in training and consulting in India, China, Japan, Malta, Iran, France, Germany .
In particular, with regard to China, in 1997 he taught for a month in the newly formed Institute for Restoration of Xi’an , as part of a project Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs-ISIAO -Government of the Republic of China, also contributing to some research on bronze artefacts, both in terms of metallographic and conservative issues.

In 2004 he carried out under the Sino-Italian Cooperation Project at the Training Center of Conservation and Restoration for Cultural Property in Beijing, a course of lectures in three weeks on:
-methods of study and conservation of metal artefacts
-methods of study and conservation of wall paintings
-Non-destructive investigations for the study of artistic techniques for the conservation and restoration of metal artefacts and wall paintings.

He was coordinator of two scientific projects of the European Community for the ICR and a project of the CNR for Cultural Heritage; he has worked as CNR adviser under the Plan Finalized for Cultural Heritage.
He coordinated the chemical research and IND related to some important monuments: the Scrovegni Chapel, The Last Supper, the St. Marco Horses, thr Equestrian monument to Marcus Aurelius, the Camera degli Sposi in Mantua, etc. ..

He has taught as an adjunct professor:
– 1990-2007 Restoration of Chemistry at the University of Tuscia, Faculty of Conservation of Cultural Heritage
– 2001-2005 Applied Chemistry for Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Humanities, University of Rome La Sapienza
– 2000 to present a module about Paintings and Metal in the Bachelor of Science Applied to Cultural Heritage and to Diagnostic of their Conservation, Faculty of Science MFN, University of Rome La Sapienza, taking care of some experimental thesis of the same course.

He was one of the organizers of the International Conference on Non-Destructive Testing for the Art Heritage, now in its 11th ed.
In 2006 he coordinated for the ICR a program on non-destructive surveys as part of a project sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aimed to the conservation of the painting “Sacred Conversation” by Jacopo Palma il Vecchio, preserved in the royal palace in Belgrade.
In 2009 he received the medal for his career by the Italian Chemical Society, Division of Environmental Chemistry and Cultural Heritage.
During the 2009 he taught two learning modules at the high school for the conservation Institute ISCR relating to IND for metallic materials and the preservation of concrete artefacts with ornamental function.

He carried out in 2009 a three-day seminar on “Scientific diagnostics and technical intervention on metallic materials,” for the scientific staff of the Center for Conservation and Restoration of Venaria Reale in Turin.
During 2009-2010 in collaboration with the University of Rome La Sapienza, Professor Sammartino, he has conducted a research on the causes of degradation of the limestone floor of the Cathedral of Todi, while in 2011 he worked on the restoration and conservation of the Monument bronze “the Kiosk” by Guttuso, at the Foundation Guttuso in Bagheria.

He is also a member of the Procurator of the Cathedral of Todi, acting as scientific adviser for conservation and restoration.
Since 2012 he is working on three ongoing research:
1. Non-destructive investigation on the Iranian golds of the National Museum of Oriental Art of Rome, in collaboration with the University of Sassari and the National Museum of Oriental Art
2.Study and evaluation of surface protection solution for monumental fountains in bronze, in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering of the University La Sapienza
3. Preventive Conservation in museum environments: feasibility plan of new methodologies for monitoring metal artefacts. Study and control of historical windows in use, in collaboration with the ICR.