Since 1985, Eng. Maurizio Pouchain, founder of the Pouchain Restoration Company, notes the need to know better materials and state of conservation of the artworks, in order to define the first step to a proper planning and a consequent effective restoration, optimizing costs and defining the most appropriate techniques.
Such knowledge should be the result of the confrontation between experts of different fields such as engineers, architects, chemists, geologists, biologists, and of course restorers. All happens during the period of the Granada Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe and of the Charter of Restoration of the CNR (National Research Center); the Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Heritage was founded a few years earlier.
Therefore originates "Il Cenacolo (The Last Supper) – Understand to Save", as a dialectic meeting of more than one expertise for the definition of the conditions of a work of art.

Over the time "Il Cenacolo" assumes an own and defined identity, availing itself of instrumentations and technicians specialized. Besides the headquarter in Rome, is born the section in Bari, and the increased skills start to be applied on the restoration of Architectural Heritage, Historical-Artistic, Archaeological Heritage and Paper-based Archive spread throughout the nationwide; also some international experience by publishing on journals the most important projects and participating to conferences of the sector. The complete knowledge of the problems recognized in the diagnostic led "Il Cenacolo" to develop the field of design and of restoration act, thus defining a new physiognomy of the society: not just Understand to Save, but Understanding and Saving.
For that reasons, "Il Cenacolo" is one of the few private Italian companies to own such an organized and technical structure that can fully play the three constituting phases of the restoration activity: diagnostic, planning and operation of restoration itself.