Maite Leal is Painting Conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she has worked since 1998. She is a graduate of Rice University and was a conservation intern for two terms, at the Center for Conservation of Art, Fort Worth, under Jay Krueger, Perry Huston and Helen Houp. She earned her Conservation Certificate from the Istituto Per L’Arte e Restauro from Palazzo Spinelli in Florence in 1992. In Italy, she interned for three years with Romeo Seccamani, Chief Paintings Conservator for the region of Lombardy. Returning to the United States she worked with Steven Prins in New Mexico and with Carol Mancusi-Ungaro in Houston. Maite was a conservator in private practice serving individuals, museums and corporations in Houston from 1996 to 1999, before permanently joining the staff at the MFAH. She is a Professional Associate of the AIC.