After earning a degree in Physics at the State University of Milan, Gianluca Poldi (Milan 1971) received his PhD in Conservation Science at the University of Florence, then a PhD on humanistic subjects (study of ancient and erased texts) at the University of Bergamo. He taught Basic Physics, Archaeometry and Conservation Science at different Italian Universities (Milan, Verona, and Bergamo), directed two editions of the Master in Conservation Science for paintings (Verona) and collaborated for some years with the Institute of General Applied Physics of the University of Milan. In 2005, he founded the Laboratory for Non-Invasive Analyses on artworks of the University of Verona (LANIAC). He then got a postdoctoral position at the University of Bergamo. Together with Giovanni C.F. Villa, director of the Visual Art Centre (CAV) of the University of Bergamo, he opened the section Diagnostics for Cultural Heritage. He currently collaborates with the CAV and he conducts a freelance activity supporting restorers, art historians, collectors, auction houses and institutions like the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. He is frequently involved in projects regarding scientific catalogues and exhibitions, where analyses can have a complementary role. His research deals with non-invasive examination mainly performed using portable instruments, to study polychrome artefacts of various kinds and ages (paintings, drawings, sculptures, textiles, wood tarsia, etc.) or palimpsests. He is particularly interested in the joined use of different technologies, both non-invasive and invasive, and in the dialogue between scientific and humanistic competences. He has been a consultant for many projects regarding conservation science and authentication, and carried out examinations on thousands of artworks in Italian and European public or private collections. He has been on the board of the Italian Association of Archaeometry (AIAr). He has performed many broad campaigns on works by Andrea Mantegna, Cosmé Tura, Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Cima da Conegliano, Bramantino, Bernardo Zenale, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Lorenzo Lotto, Giambattista Tiepolo, Francesco Hayez, Giovanni Boldini, many Divisionist painters, Futurists (Boccioni, Depero), Modigliani, De Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Lucio Fontana and Josef Albers. He has published more than 170 works, including essays and scientific papers, and curated more than ten books. He is currently working on Leonardo’s drawings.
