B. 1910 - 1988

Milanese-born, Florence-based Pietro Annigoni was a graduate of the Florentine Accademia di Belle Arti. He championed figurative painting and preservation of the Renaissance Masters’ legacies. Annigoni was a multi-disciplinary artist, proficient in oil and tempera painting techniques, as well as in sculpture and a variety of graphic media.
 
While he was equally at ease in paintings landscapes, still lives, and genre scenes, he is best remembered for his portrait paintings. His two portraits of HM Queen Elizabeth II are considered among his two most celebrated works. Other works include portraits of the Pope, British and American political leaders, and members of European, Middle-Eastern, and Indian royal and aristocratic dynasties.
 
Annigoni’s works reside today in the British Royal Collection, the Vatican Museums, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace in Florence. His murals and frescoes adorn notable religious and secular edifices throughout Italy. He is also the subject of a feature-length documentary, ‘Annigoni: Portrait of an Artist’ (1995).