Andrea Martinelli was born in Prato on March 12th 1965. He graduated at the Porta Romana Art Institute in Florence and, in 1988, he won the “Tito Conti” Prize and was given, by the Academy of Drawing Arts, as a study grant, a prestigious atelier in Piazza Donatello in Florence for five years. From 1992 to 1993, he dedicated all his energies to the painting of a series of works titled Senescenze, which attracted the attention of art critic and historian Giovanni Testori and were shown in Florence’s Academy of Drawing Arts and at the Compagnia del Disegno in Milano. That was the first of many solo and collective exhibitions in major private and public spaces, in Italy and abroad. Among the solo exhibitions, the exhibit at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 2001, the retrospective exhibition at the Frissiras Museum of Athens in 2002, the exhibition at the Permanente Museum in Milano in 2005 and the retrospective exhibition at the Panorama Museum of Bad Frankenhausen, Germany, in 2006. In 1999, he took part in the 13th Rome Quadriennale and, in 2003, in the 50th Venice Biennale. Among his many recognitions and prizes: 37th Suzzara Prize (1997), The Chamber of Deputies Prize, 13th Rome Quadriennale (1999), 35th International “Le Muse” Prize, Florence (2001). He has been member of Florence’s Academy of Drawing Arts since 2004. He currently lives and works with Stefania between Prato and the Chianti area.