Theory of Restoration

Author of the first and still best known Teoria del restauro, Cesare Brandi lent intellectual dignity to restoration work, which until that time had been an empirical, artisan-type activity. As it is an activity of criticism, restoration must be conducted in an interdisciplinary context, and every professional (scientific expert, conservator-restorer, art historian) will play an equal role, albeit with the operational coordination of a specialist in any given work of art - the historian. The Teoria is an integral part of Brandi's aesthetic production, wich is laid out in the four Diaologhi di Elicona, in Segno e immagine, Le due vie, Struttura e architettura, and Teoria generale della critica. To date it has been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Greek, Romanian, and Bohemian. This is the first edition in English with the 40 original pictures (no more published from 1977) and 40 new fotos and with the essays of Paul Philippot and Giulio Carlo Argan.