Pinin Brambilla Barcilon was born in Monza, Italy, and as a young girl, she was heavily involved in the art world. She worked under Gio Ponti as a young girl and eventually became an architecture student who was introduced to restoration by her mentor Piero Portaluppi.  Barcilon aided in the restoration of other popular works by Lambert Lombard, and then in the 1970s, Superintendent for Artistic and Historical Heritage in Milan hired her to work on the famous Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (Barcilon).

In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci traveled from Florence to Milan, where he came under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza.  Shortly after the Duke's rise to power, da Vinci was commissioned to create an equestrian statue that would honor Sforza's late father.  The new leader also working to reestablish the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, hiring Donato Bramante to "update" the church, while da Vinci would paint a depiction of The Last Supper on the wall of the refectory (Grieve).