Silvano Bertolin

Silvano Bertolin (* 1938 in Casarsa della Delizia near Pordenone ) is an Italian restorer and sculptor .

Silvano Bertolin is the son of a tailor. His artistic talent was recognized early on in school by a teacher who also got his parents to train Bertolin in this direction. He was accepted after a seven-day entrance exam at the prestigious Art School of Spilimbergo . There Bertolin was taught to paint, model and draw. At the school he also got his first job as a mosaic maker . He then worked in the same profession for Villeroy & Boch . In 1963 he received offers from Paris and Munich to work as a restorer. He decided to accept the offer from the Glyptothek Munich . After a short time he was heading the restoration workshop there. For nine years he carried out one of the greatest restoration projects in post-war history, the restoration of the Aeginetes. The entire inventory of sculptures in the Glyptothek was restored under his direction.

He then worked at the Liebieghaus Frankfurt , in the antique collection of the Württembergisches Landesmuseum Stuttgart , at the Aphaia Museum on Aegina , in the Antikenmuseum Basel , the National Museum Athens , the J. Paul Getty Museum , in Los Angeles , the Louvre and in Sakkara . The restoration of the Skylla group in Sperlonga was also particularly important . He restored the colossal group of figures from thousands of pieces found in 1957. In 1994 he accepted an assignment from the Museo del Prado in Madrid . With interruptions he worked there for six years, during which time he restored the museum's collection of sculptures. He then worked at the Berlin Collection of Antiquities and restored the friezes of the Pergamon Altar with the participation of several family members .

In 1996 Bertolin was named Man of the Year in his hometown for his cultural merits . His son Frank Bertolin is also a restorer and architect . Bertolin's work has been organized by his wife since 1965. Bertolin works as a restorer of sculptures, friezes and mosaics, takes impressions of originals (well over 5000 so far) and searches quarries for suitable marble for additions. He is considered one of the most skilled restorers of his generation.

literature

• Carola Wesel: Silvano Bertolin. The restorer , in: Carola Wesel (Ed.): The Pergamon Museum. People - Myths - Masterpieces , Nicolai, Berlin 2003, pp. 66–67. ISBN 3-89479-095-4

Web links

• Report on the restoration of the Pergamon Altar in Die Zeit