Giovanni VERRI

has been a conservation scientist since 2019 in the Department of Conservation and Science at the Art Institute of Chicago. He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Ferrara, Italy, and MA in conservation of wall paintings from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, UK. His research interests include the development and application of investigative techniques for the analysis of color, with a particular focus on ancient Greece and Rome. In 2007, he developed an imaging technique called visible-induced luminescence imaging, through which it is possible to map the presence of Egyptian blue, a very commonly used blue pigment in antiquity, even when otherwise invisible to the naked eye. This has led to interesting discoveries about the use of color in antiquity and unprecedented insights into how ancient painters created their masterpieces.

Professor Paolo LIVERANI

studied Classics at the Sapienza University of Rome and obtained his PhD in Ancient Topography in 1991.
His main research interests include: the ancient topography of Rome, Latium and Etruria; Roman state art; polychromy in ancient Roman sculpture; the history of the archaeological collections and museums of Rome. From 1986 to 2005 he was Curator of Classical Antiquities at the Vatican Museum. Since November 2005 he has been Professor of the Topography of Ancient Italy at the University of Florence. Since September 2020 he is Associate Researcher of the Institute for Cultural Heritage of the National Council for Research in Italy. He is currently Head of the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Florence. He is a member of the Academia Europaea (London) and the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology (Vatican City); corresponding member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome), the Archaeological Institute of America (Boston), the German Archaeological Institute (Berlin), the National Institute of Etruscan Studies (Florence) and the Société National des Antiquaires de France (Paris); honorary fellow of the British School in Rome. In 2004, he was curator of the Vatican edition of the exhibition I Colori del Bianco, on polychromy in Greek and Roman sculpture; in 2015 he organised the 7th Round Table on the Polychromy of Ancient Sculpture and Architecture (Florence, Uffizi) together with S. Bracci, G. Giachi, P. Pallecchi and F. Paolucci; in 2022 the 11th Round Table on the Polychromy of Ancient Sculpture and Architecture, (Rome, Musei Capitolini and Museo Nazionale Romano) together with C. Parisi Presicce and S. Verger. He is a member of the scientific committee of the 12th Round Table on the Polychromy of Ancient Sculpture and Architecture (Malibu, November 2024) and of the web team of the site https://www.polychromyroundtable.com/. He has published extensively on ancient polychromy in international journals and conference proceedings.

Catlin LANGFORD

is the founder of the scientific research laboratory at the Art Institute of Chicago, Francesca currently holds the position of vice president and Grainger Executive Director, Conservation and Science. She is also the founding member and co-director of the Northwestern University / Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts (NU-ACCESS). Francesca is passionate about communicating the work of conservators and scientists to the public, students, and the media. In both her academic and museum work, she is particularly proud of training women scientists for careers in museums, industry, and academia. In 2006 she was the recipient of the L’Oréal Art and Science of Color Silver Prize.Francesca received her PhD and MS degrees in chemistry from the University of Milan, Italy, and in 2019 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Rebecca PEDRAZZI

is an art historian and critic specializing in AI Art. Born in Milan in 1982, she graduated in Art History and Criticism from the University of Milan with a thesis on “The Contemporary Art Market,” and began working as an Art-Advisor in an art management company, also developing an in-depth knowledge of the Old-Masters market. In 2017 she founded the online art and culture magazine NotiziArte.com, and in 2018 she became a journalist. Since then he has written over 3,500 articles on national and international art and culture events, now with a focused focus on the most current issues of the latest technologies applied to the art world. In 2021 he published the book “Futuri possibili. Scenari d’arte e Intelligenza Artificiale” – published by Jaca Book. She currently lectures for courses and masters on AI and the Art world and is active, educational side, with publications, conferences and dedicated webinars. She has collaborated with different realities such as VAR Digital Art for the VDA Award, and with CINECA for the GRIN S+T+ARTS Residencies project. She is a member of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) and collaborates with the Neuromarketing and Metaverse Department AINEM. She co-curated the exhibition “L’opera d’arte nell’epoca dell’Intelligenza Artificiale” – Parma, Palazzo Pigorini, the first group show dedicated to Italian AI Art. In 2024, she joined the team of the Artificial Intelligence Observatory of the European Institute of Design (IED).

Hartmut KUTZKE

After studies in chemistry, mineralogy, art history and archaeology at the universities of Aachen and Bonn, Hartmut Kutzke obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Bonn with a thesis on organic polymorphic crystals of historical importance. Since 2007 Hartmut is employed as chemist and conservation scientist (associated professor) at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. His main interests are written sources on artistic materials and their reconstruction in the laboratory, analyses of materials used on artworks and archaeological objects and monitoring their degradation, development of bio-inspired materials for conservation, and the use of synchrotron- and neutron-based methods to study cultural heritage objects. He is also active in developing new ways of communication of research to the wider public. Currently he is coordinating the international project “Virtual Reconstruction, Interpretation and Preservation of the Textile Artifacts from the Oseberg Find” (TexRec) on the Viking Age textiles from the Oseberg find.