Gilding course in Florence
Learn gilding and goldleafing with the use of gold on wooden objects. Our courses are taught by professionals working in collaboration with the Uffizi Gallery and other Italian museums. The workshop is located in the city center of Florence.
Courses are held in small groups. Our students mostly have a technical or professional background. No exams and no specific qualifications are required.
Classes are both in the morning and in the afternoon. At the end of the course you will receive a final certificate.
The basic short gilding course is perfect if you wish to approach gilding for the first time. You will learn how to apply the gesso and the bole. You will gild your own object, burnish and antique it. After that you will apply a special lacquer.
The most complete gilding course firstly includes the theoretical introduction. Secondly, you will learn how to consolidate wood with the use of animal glues and other substances. You will learn the disinfestation process and the cleaning process. You will use antique lacquers, you will do the filling and the integration techniques with gold or metal leaf with water and mordant gildings. You will also learn how to use pastiglia and the ageing process.
| Starting dates 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | on request | May | on request | September | on request |
| February | on request | June | on request | October | on request |
| March | on request | July | on request | November | on request |
| April | on request | August | December | on request | |
| The school will be closed on the following national holidays: Epiphany (06/01), Easter Monday, Italy Liberation Day (25/04), Workers' Day (01/05), Republic Day (02/06), Ferragosto (15/08), All Saints (01/11), Immaculate Conception (8/12), Christmas holidays and New Year. | |||||
Anonymous –
Oro e Colore where I took painting restoration and gilding techniques and restoration course is top class school in Florence, Italy. There are teach high professionals, they are the best people with professionalism, many thanks to Studiainitalia and Ms. Federica for giving me the opportunity to study at Oro e Colore and many thanks to Ms. Stefania And Ms. Manuela and Mr. Carlo, the best teachers.
Many thanks and my highest recommendation to Studiainitalia and laboratory and school Oro e Colore.
Evelyne Arnold –
The gilding course with Stefania was a rewarding experience. Taught by her father, Stefania has 35 years of gilding practice and comes from a family with long-standing experience in this field. They have restored historic works in famous collections, such as the Uffizi Gallery, and Stefania’s skill is evident in her teaching. She also seems to have a never-ending amount of patience for a gilding novice like me.I was taught the water gilding technique, which has been applied since Renaissance times. One should arm oneself with a lot of patience. Be aware that this course teaches a difficult technique, so take lots of notes to refer back to at home. I managed to gild the edges of several boards with this technique. Now I need to follow up with lots of practice at home.This course takes place in a gilding workshop open to the public. I had booked one on one classes, but during two weeks the teacher was supervising a group course for Lyceum students, which was running at the same time.I am glad I took the course and can highly recommend it.
Jade Simpson –
What a rewarding experience this was for me. I am really proud of my certificate and I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Special thanks to the teacher and the staff at Studiainitalia, who made everything so easy for me and my first-ever visit in Italy. I will certainly return to visit more cities and would love to join another art course with you. A presto!Jade (Canada)
lucia –
It has been an incredible experience with real professionals in the field of gilding. A very productive course because you learn the ancient techniques by handling the materials and tools yourself. I recommend this experience because in addition to learning, you get a beautiful memory for life.