Riccardo Tommasi Ferroni

Riccardo Tommasi Ferroni, born in Pietrasanta on December 4, 1934, and deceased in Pieve di Camaiore on February 19, 2000, was a prominent Italian painter and engraver of the 20th century. Coming from a family of artists—his father Leone Tommasi and brother Marcello Tommasi were both sculptors—Riccardo inherited a passion for art from an early age, growing up in a cultured and stimulating environment. After graduating from the classical lyceum in Viareggio, he enrolled at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Florence, while simultaneously attending the Academy of Fine Arts, where he further developed his artistic skills.
Moving to Rome in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tommasi Ferroni found the ideal context for his artistic maturation. There, he developed a personal style characterized by figurative painting rich in literary, mythological, and classical references, where the fantastic dimension intertwines with history, the ancient with the modern, and the sacred with the profane”.
Critics have often highlighted the “sculptural” rendering of drapery in his paintings, in contrast with the delicate flesh tones of his figures, and have identified in his work a reaction against technology and contemporary cultural degeneration, linking him to the metaphysical painting of Giorgio De Chirico. 
Elected Academician of San Luca in 1983, Riccardo Tommasi Ferroni is today considered a leading figure in the Italian art scene of the second half of the 20th century. His production, characterized by a refined and cultured language, continues to arouse interest for its ability to combine tradition and modernity, making his name a reference point for enthusiasts of Italian figurative art.