Giuseppe Molteni (Affori, Milan, 1800 – Milan, 1867) was an Italian painter. Forced to abandon his studies at the Brera Academy for financial reasons, Molteni took up the restoration of ancient paintings as a pupil of Giuseppe Guizzardi in Bologna.

On his return to Milan, he soon became one of the most sought-after restorers of the day, a consultant to the Louvre and the British Museum as well as the leading collectors and connoisseurs in Milan and Europe as a whole. He also devoted his energies to painting.
In 1828 that he inaugurated a genre of portraiture characterised by the meticulous depiction of sumptuous costumes and settings, which proved an extraordinary success and brought him into direct competition with Francesco Hay...