The course starts with a first module (6 hours) of assessment of the prerequisites, through an introduction - dialogue with the students and an applying to an entrance test, with a consequent suggestion of any recovery activities in case of difficulties. This is followed by lectures, both in the classroom and "in the field" (guided tours), for a total of 30 hours. The lessons are intended to illustrate, through emblematic examples, the historical evolution of theories and practice of restoration in Italy from ancient times to the present day. Specifically, the following topics will be discussed: Preservation and restoration of works of art in classical antiquity; re-utilization, recoveries and reuse in the Middle Ages; the preservation of relics and devotional images; Archeology and restoration from the 5th to the 18th century; Precursors of modern restoration: Carlo Maratti and Giovan Pietro Bellori; The eighteenth century, including revolutions, technological development, the first laws of protection; the example of Pietro Edwards in Venice; Napoleonic age and restoration: “spoliazioni”, new museums, removing of fresco paintings from walls, new methods of intervention; Viollet-le-Duc and the culture of restoration; John Ruskin and the claim of the value of authenticity; The nineteenth-century manuals: Ulisse Forni and Giovanni Secco Suardo; Cavalcaselle and Boito and the philological restoration; Lombard and Florentine tradition between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Restoration between the two wars; the Athens Charter and the establishment of the ICR; Cesare Brandi's theory of restoration; Restoration after the Florence flood: methods and theory; Restoration in recent decades: bibliography and exemplary cases. Besides the frontal lessons with images, guided tours will be made to laboratories together with om-site lessons (museums, monuments, collections), with a direct approach to the analysis of the artifacts. An intermediate module of 6 hours, to be carried out at about half of the duration of the course, is dedicated to the assessment of the skills and knowledge acquired and will consist to answer a written test and eventually correct it during class.