Jacopo Gilardi
Conservator & Restorer
Morbio Superiore

« Guardian of the centuries-old tradition of painting and conservation of the "transparencies" of Holy Week in Mendrisio. »

Born in Turin in 1963 to Swiss parents, he is the last of a line of artists dating back to the 17th century. Graduated from the Liceo artistico of Turin in 1983, he specialized in the restoration of easel paintings in Florence in 1990. He first collaborated with his father Silvano and his uncle Alessandro before creating his own company in 1992. Alongside his work of restoration, he began, during his stay in Florence, a teaching activity, which culminated in 2007 when he was hired by the degree course in conservation and restoration of the SUPSI.

He carried out restoration work on important monuments in the canton (among others, the cenacle of Ponte Capriasca, the church of S. Maria della Misericordia in the Papio college in Ascona, the paintings of Camillo Procaccini in the church of S. Croce in Riva S. Vitale) and now also deals with the planning and supervision of restoration works (among the most important: the Cathedral of S. Lorenzo in Lugano, the Agricultural Institute of Mezzana, the building Albertolli in Lugano, the former Monastery of the Angels in Lugano). From the first half of the 1980s he began to work on the "transparencies" of Mendrisio (which were declared intangible heritage by UNESCO in 2019), both as a restorer and as a specialist consultant for the execution of new works.

1983 Diploma of artistic maturity at the 1st artistic high school of Turin

1989 Diploma in restoration of paintings from the Tuscany Region at the Institute for Art and Restoration “Palazzo Spinelli” in Florence

1990 Specialization diploma in painting restoration at the “Palazzo Spinelli” Institute for Art and Restoration in Florence