Romano Stefanelli

Romano Stefanelli was born in Florence in 1931, where he still lives and works on Via Sant’Egidio. His artistic training began at the age of 17 in the studio of Pietro Annigoni, where he learned various painting and graphic techniques. He became a devoted disciple of Annigoni, adopting the figurative and gently realistic style favored by his mentor. He cultivated the genres of figure painting, portraiture, and landscape, also expressing himself in the realm of sacred art. From this figurative foundation, Stefanelli developed his own exploration of continuity and discontinuity with traditional models.
In 1960, he executed a copy of a portrait of the Queen in London. After winning the National Portrait Competition in Florence in 1962, he created two tempera paintings for the Church of Divine Providence in Florence, and in 1967, a large fresco depicting the Annunciation in the Church of San Michele Arcangelo in Ponte Buggianese.
Critics consider the pinnacle of his prolific artistic output to be the trilogy of masterpieces he created over a fifteen-year period for the Church of Santa Maria in Massarella. A versatile artist, Stefanelli’s work ranges from still lifes to landscapes, from nudes to portraits, from frescoes to mural temperas, from lithographs to engravings, from sculpture to medal-making, and even to the creation of jewelry using the “repoussé and chasing” technique.
Since his debut at the Galleria Levi in Milan in 1968, he has exhibited his work in major Italian cities and internationally.
Among his most significant frescoes are the ceiling of the choir in the Abbey of Montecassino, mural cycles in the churches of Santa Maria Assunta in Quarrata (PT) and Santa Maria in Massarella (FI), and individual works in the churches of San Michele Arcangelo in Ponte Buggianese (PT) and Santa Maria in Torri (FI).