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I LOVE MY QUEEN (detail) Desiderio Sanzi by DESIDERIO
INRI (detail) Desiderio Sanzi by DESIDERIO
Mantra (detail) Desiderio Sanzi by DESIDERIO
1978–1644 · French[1]

DESIDERIO

Born in Milan in 1978[1] and now based in the province of Terni, Desiderio Sanzi works under the single name DESIDERIO across painting, installation, video production, and performance. His practice is rooted in illustration but has expanded steadily outward.

Held in 19 museumsWikipedia5 sources

Portrait of DESIDERIO

Biography

Cuba has been a recurring axis of his career. He represented the Cuban Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, participated in the Havana Biennale in both 2012 and 2015, and in 2013 directed Ahora si llego!, a feature film billed as the first road movie shot entirely in Cuba to receive support from the Cuban government. The three short films he made between 2007 and 2009, Beauty Hazard, Confabula Spurio, and I love my Queen, form an earlier trilogy that established his interest in moving image as a parallel strand to his painting.

On the exhibition circuit he has built a reputation for site-responsive large-scale work. In 2016 he took part in Genius Loci, the fifth edition of the Pio Alferano Prize directed by Vittorio Sgarbi, at the Castello dell'Abate in Castellabate. The following year saw his solo exhibition Nirvana at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, curated by Chiara Canali. In 2019 he installed Malebolge, a cycle of large oil paintings drawn from Dante's Inferno, inside the former church of San Michele Arcangelo in Amelia during the Ameria Festival.

Also in 2015, he participated in the 4th Biennale Fin del Mundo in Valparaiso, Chile, consolidating an international presence that spans European and Latin American circuits.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is DESIDERIO known for?
    DESIDERIO is known for his site-responsive, large-scale work. He has participated in the Venice Biennale, the Havana Biennale, and the Biennale Fin del Mundo in Valparaiso, Chile.
  • What should I know about DESIDERIO's prints?
    When considering a DESIDERIO print, bear in mind some key aspects of printmaking. An "original print" is conceived as a print, made solely as a print, and usually part of a numbered, signed edition. Each print in the edition is an original, created from a plate, stone, screen or block. The artist decides the number of prints in the edition. Numbering is a standard convention, with each print assigned a number (e.g. 12/25, meaning the 12th print of 25). Early prints might not be numbered or signed. A reproduction is a copy of artwork from another medium, often made using photomechanical methods. Numbering or signing a reproduction does not make it an original print. Printmaking is an unregulated activity, but edition claims add value if they are truthful. Claims and descriptions are subject to trade description legislation. The edition number is written on the bottom left margin of the print, the title in the middle, and the signature on the right, always in pencil.
  • What style or movement did DESIDERIO belong to?
    Desiderio, also known as Desiderio da Settignano, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor. He was active in Florence during the 15th century. During this period, Florence was a centre for artistic innovation. Artists were moving away from the Gothic style and developing a new approach based on classical ideals. This new style is now known as the Renaissance. Desiderio's work shows the influence of artists such as Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti. He is known for his marble sculptures, particularly his portrait busts and reliefs. These works often feature graceful figures with delicate features. He worked alongside other sculptors exploring similar themes, such as Antonio Rossellino and Mino da Fiesole. His style is characterised by its technical skill and emotional expressiveness. Desiderio's sculptures are considered important examples of early Renaissance art.
  • Where can I see DESIDERIO's work?
    To view works attributed to DESIDERIO, consider visiting the following museums: In the United States, you can find art at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Winter Park, Florida), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), and the Wolfsonian at Florida International University (Miami Beach). In Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto) holds relevant pieces. In the United Kingdom, visit the Bakelite Museum (Williton), the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, the Geffrye Museum (London), the Manchester Art Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland (Edinburgh), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London). In Italy, Fondazione Regionale Cristoforo Colombo (Genova), Museo del Bijou di Casalmaggiore, and Museo Richard-Ginori della Manifattura di Doccia (Sesto Fiorentino) may have works on display.
  • Where was DESIDERIO from?
    Desiderio was from Florence, Italy. Florence was a centre for artistic innovation during the Italian Renaissance. The city saw an explosion of creativity in painting, sculpture, and architecture. Wealthy patrons, such as the Medici family, supported artists, commissioning works that would decorate their palaces and churches. This environment allowed artists to experiment with new techniques and ideas, contributing to the development of a distinctive Florentine style. The artistic community in Florence was close-knit. Workshops often trained young artists. They collaborated on large projects. This fostered a sense of shared artistic identity. Artists such as Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci all spent significant periods in Florence, leaving an impression on the city's artistic output.
  • Who did DESIDERIO influence?
    It is difficult to say exactly who Desiderio might have influenced. However, considering the stylistic evolution of Diego Velázquez, we can see how artists respond to the styles of other artists. Velázquez's paintings from the Seville period share similarities with Caravaggio's work, particularly in format, composition, pictorial space and lighting. Both artists also depict rustic figures. Caravaggio was a noted specialist in the half-length format, which Velázquez also used in his genre paintings, usually called bodegones. Velázquez’s late work, The Spinners, was largely made to proclaim himself a worthy successor to the tradition established by Titian and continued by Rubens. Velázquez was impressionable late in his career and must have been just as impressionable as a young man. He surely did not develop his distinctive naturalism without artistic models.
  • Who influenced DESIDERIO?
    According to period sources, artists of DESIDERIO's era often found inspiration and motivation from their peers. They were also driven by a desire for recognition. Artists sometimes reflected on the accomplishments and status achieved by others, which spurred them to pursue greatness through hard work and study. Furthermore, the art of the Italian masters served as a significant source of influence. These examples and prototypes were readily available; they were sold publicly and could be examined directly. The availability of Italian masterworks allowed artists to study them closely, which provided more fruitful instruction than relying solely on imagination or descriptions. By studying these tangible examples, artists could learn from the past and develop their own skills.
  • Who was DESIDERIO?
    It is difficult to answer this question directly. "Desiderio" is not consistently used as a proper name for a single artist. It may refer to: Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616-1693[1]), an aristocratic Bolognese canon, is important to the study of Baroque art because of his history of Bolognese painting and collection of biographies of Bolognese artists, titled the Felsina Pittrice, Vite de Pittori Bolognesi, published in 1678. Alternatively, "Desiderio" may refer to an artist involved with producing engraved title pages, which became a high art form by the early seventeenth century. These images drew from Ovidian mythology and Christian iconography. In 1652, Gianlorenzo Bernini contributed the frontispiece to a Jesuit treatise on optics. This was during a monumental war of ideologies in Italy, in the fields of astronomy and optics.
  • Why are DESIDERIO's works important today?
    DESIDERIO's mixed-media art books, such as *Codex Delilah: From Mexica to Chicana* (1992), remain relevant because they democratise art by freeing it from the elitist aura of rare objects. Her work translates Mesoamerican codices into culturally relevant terms, addressing the colonial encounters and their aftermath for Indigenous and mestiza Latina women in the United States. *Codex Delilah* presents the narrative from the perspective of Six Deer, a fictional Mayatec girl, who journeys from Mexico City to New Mexico. Along the way, Six Deer meets female figures from Mexican and Chicana/o popular culture, learning about the historical processes initiated by European colonisation. The book combines Mesoamerican codex traditions with photonovels, photography, and literary narrative. Its panels incorporate deities, earthly levels, spatial locations, and written narratives, which can be read in multiple directions and languages. Through this combination, DESIDERIO explores identity, multicultural heritage, and survival within a complex historical context.
  • When was DESIDERIO born?
    DESIDERIO was born in 1978[1].

Sources

Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for DESIDERIO.

  1. [1] wikipedia Wikipedia: DESIDERIO Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
  2. [2] book Anthony Burton, A Performer's Guide to Music of the Baroque Period Used for: biography, stylistic analysis.
  3. [3] book Zuffi, Stefano, 1961-, Baroque painting : two centuries of masterpieces from the era preceding the dawn modern art Used for: biography.
  4. [4] book Nina A. Mallory, El Greco to Murillo Used for: biography.
  5. [5] book Lilian H. Zirpolo, Historical Dictionary of Baroque Art and Architecture Used for: biography.

Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-09-30. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.

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