DML Atelier: Milanese Restorers Dream of Caravaggio

In a basement studio on via Gustavo Modena in Milan, three restorers—Davide Trentadue, Matteo Cavallini, and Lucia Disanza—run DML Atelier, specializing in conservation and restoration of paintings on canvas, wood, metal, synthetic materials, frescoes, graffiti, stuccoes, wooden ceilings, tempera, and sculptures. They met at an art high school in Milan and later studied at the Accademia di pittura e restauro 'Aldo Galli' in Como. After working with prestigious labs in Europe, the US, and Asia, they founded DML about fifteen years ago. Their clients include both public and private entities. They have restored works by Lucio Fontana, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol; a reproduction of Warhol's Campbell's Soup (number 121 of 250) sits on their table, valued at tens of thousands of euros. Each restorer has specialized skills: Disanza excels in drawing and cleaning, Trentadue repairs tears in paper or canvas, and Cavallini works on frescoes and sculptures. They work without fixed hours, sometimes nine hours straight, and completed over thirty restorations in the past year. Italy has about 20,000 similar labs, with a thousand in Milan alone. The trio dreams of restoring an authentic Caravaggio painting.