Marta Ajmar gained her BA in Art History, Literary Studies and Classics at the University of Pavia (Italy), while also studying Chinese (Mandarin) Language and Culture at the University of Milan (ISMEO) and at the Language and Culture University in Beijing (Beijing Yuyan Xueyuan). She trained as an apprentice painting restorer in the Studio Signorelli (Milan). In 1991 Marta Ajmar came to London to study for an MA in Combined Historical Studies (the Renaissance) and PhD at the Warburg Institute (University of London). Her PhD thesis was founded on the relationship between domesticity, gender and material culture in Renaissance Italy. Marta Ajmar joined the RCA/V&A History of Design MA Course to set up the Renaissance specialism. Between 2002 and 2006 she directed the collaborative research and exhibition project funded by the Getty Foundation and the AHRC for the major V&A exhibition At Home in Renaissance Italy (2006).