After obtaining a second level diploma from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna and a stint with the Centre interrégional de conservation du livre, Rita Capitani pursued her studies with the Istituto centrale per il restauro degli archivi e del libro in Rome. She took part in the rescue of archives damaged by the earthquake in Emilia in 2012 and has participated in a number of restoration projects, particularly with the Fondazione Fedrigoni Fabriano and the Bibliotheca Hertziana.
Since 2018 she has been a resident restorer with the Soprintendenza archivistica e bibliografica dell’Emilia-Romagna, coordinating restoration and preventive conservation in the archives and libraries run by the regional authority, while also managing the restoration laboratory in the Archivio di Stato di Bologna.
A member of the Emilia-Romagna Crisis Unit, she took part in post-emergency activities from 2019 to 2023. Since the end of 2023 she has been working at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Florence and has contributed to the restoration of archives and libraries damaged by floods in Tuscany.