Virgilio Guidi

Virgilio Guidi (April 4, 1891 – January 7, 1984) was an Italian artist and writer.

He was born in Rome into an artistic family. His father was a sculptor. Guidi received his early training at the Scuola Libera di Pittura in Rome and in 1908 began working as a restorer and decorator. He continued his studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, where Armando Spadini influenced him.

During the decade after the war, Guidi painted modern subject matter in a tonality influenced by the Venetians. He gave his figures a timeless appearance by simplifying clothing details and emphasizing volumes. His painting The Visit (1922), which he exhibited at the Venice Biennale of 1922, is one of his many depictions of two women meeting. The composition is reminiscent of a traditional Annunciation, according to Jennifer Mundy, and "marks the end of Guidi's exploration of museum styles and is a confident statement of a new Renaissance-inspired realism in his art." From the 1950s onward, he produced thematic cycles of paintings, such as Tumulti ("Riots"), Prigioniera ("Prisoner"), Grandi Occhi ("Big Eyes"), Cielo ("Sky"), and Figure agitate ("Agitated Figures").

In 1959, he published a collection of poetry, Spazi dell’esistenza.