He was known as a master marble-carver and was the founder of Studio Sem in Pietrasanta, which has executed the monumental works of many contemporary sculptors, including Henry Moore and Joan Miró.

[2] At the age of 15, Ghelardini became a prominent member of the Italian resistance movement in the region, working with the American forces, who would drop off money to fund their activity.

[4] Ghelardini also took a keen interest in young sculptors, training them in stone carving and inviting them to meet with the major artists who were visiting the studio to supervise the execution of their works.

[10] An exhibition by artists associated with his studio, entitled Omaggio a Sem: Se tutto va bene...siamo rovinati,[a] took place in the town in the autumn of that year.

[1] In the later years of his life, Ghelardini had acquired Il Feudo, a small farm in the hills outside Montignoso, and designed the vineyard's unique terracing system made from off-cuts of granite.

[10] Since Gelardini's death, Studio Sem has been run jointly by his former assistant and collaborator Keara McMartin and his youngest son Pierangelo who is also a marble carver.

[10] The studio continues to specialise in the execution of works for contemporary sculptors including Helaine Blumenfeld, Damien Hirst and Peter Randall-Page but also produces classical and religious statuary.