# Italian Movie Poster Artists: The Painters Behind the Posters > Italian movie poster artists from Ballester and Martinati to Cesselon, Campeggi, Symeoni and Casaro: who they were, what they painted and how to recognise them. Canonical: https://locandinebest.net/italian-movie-poster-artists Updated: 2026-11-01 Italian movie poster artists painted the artwork for almost every film released in Italy from the silent era to the 1990s, often thousands of films each. Eight names — **Ballester**, **Martinati**, **Capitani**, **Cesselon**, **Campeggi**, **Symeoni**, **Ciriello** and **Casaro** — account for many of the posters collectors want today. ## Eight painters to know - [Anselmo Ballester (1897–1974)](/artists/anselmo-ballester): Rome's great poster painter of the 1920s–1950s: Stagecoach, Gilda, On the Waterfront. - [Luigi Martinati (1893–1983)](/artists/luigi-martinati): Large portraits with a smaller scene; Warner Bros. in Italy for a decade. - [Alfredo Capitani (1895–1985)](#alfredo-capitani): Trained in stage design; the 4-fogli of Gilda and Moby Dick. - [Angelo Cesselon (1922–1992)](/artists/angelo-cesselon): One big portrait instead of a collage of scenes; Italy's best film painter of 1955. - [Silvano Campeggi (1923–2018)](/artists/silvano-campeggi): "Nano": over 3,000 films, from Gone with the Wind to Breakfast at Tiffany's. - [Sandro Symeoni (1928–2008)](/artists/sandro-symeoni): Bold graphic posters for La dolce vita, Profondo rosso and over 3,000 films. - [Averardo Ciriello (1918–2016)](#averardo-ciriello): Pin-up master who painted Divorzio all'italiana and Fellini's Casanova. - [Renato Casaro (1935–2025)](/artists/renato-casaro): Leone, Conan, Flash Gordon, Dances With Wolves: over 2,000 posters. ## How an Italian film poster was made The distributor briefed the painter and supplied photographs from the film. The painter sketched several small compositions, the distributor chose one, and the painter produced the finished artwork — the **bozzetto** — usually in tempera. The printer then reproduced it by lithography or offset in each format, adding the title and credits. One bozzetto therefore became a 4-fogli, a 2-fogli, a 1-foglio and a locandina, each re-composed for its shape. Original bozzetti are unique paintings and sell as artworks, far above any printed poster. Printed posters signed in the plate are what most collectors own: the signature was painted into the artwork and printed with it. ## Studios and collaborations Painters often shared studios to keep up with demand. Ballester, Martinati and Capitani worked together as the **BCM** studio, named after their initials. Young painters trained in established studios: Renato Casaro spent a year at Studio Favalli in Rome before opening his own studio at Cinecittà. Because of this, the same poster campaign could involve several hands, and unsigned posters are sometimes attributed to a studio rather than a single artist. ## Alfredo Capitani (1895–1985): the stage designer of the BCM trio Alfredo Capitani (Ciampino, 3 March 1895 – Rome, 9 September 1985) trained in stage design in Rome and began by building theatre sets. In 1919 he opened a studio for advertising posters and joined other painters producing large painted displays for cinemas; with Luigi Martinati he founded Maralca, a company for film launches, and later shared the BCM studio with Ballester and Martinati. He worked for Italian producers and for MGM, Fox and Columbia. He painted the 140 × 200 cm Italian posters for *Gilda* and *Moby Dick*, and posters for *Sfida infernale* (*My Darling Clementine*), *Gli amori di Carmen* (*The Loves of Carmen*), *Orizzonte perduto* (*Lost Horizon*), *Oceano rosso* and *L'isola misteriosa* (*Mysterious Island*). His theatrical training shows in wide, stage-like compositions that suit the large formats. He closed his poster business in 1960 and painted until his death at ninety. ## Averardo Ciriello (1918–2016): from pin-ups to film posters Averardo Ciriello (Milan, 28 May 1918 – Rome, 5 November 2016) debuted as a cartoonist at twenty-four and from 1945 worked for the weekly *Intrepido*. His pin-up covers for the magazine *7Sette* made him the heir of Gino Boccasile, and in the 1950s he drew for *Marc'Aurelio* and *La Domenica del Corriere* while beginning the film poster career that made him widely known. His film work includes illustrations for *Divorzio all'italiana* and *Il Casanova di Federico Fellini*. His posters carry the same confident figure drawing as his covers — elegant, sensual women and characterful faces — which suited the Italian comedies of the period. ## How to recognise the painter - **Look for a signature** in the lower corners of the image, sometimes along an edge or hidden in the design. - **Compare** with signed posters by the same painter from the same years; signatures changed over a career (Casaro first signed "C. Renè", later "R. Casaro"). - **Watch for family studios**: Claudio Casaro's posters are signed "Casaro C." in a triangle, distinct from his father's. - **Style helps but does not prove**: an unsigned poster "in the style of" a painter should be described that way, not as their work. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who is the most famous Italian movie poster artist? Collectors most often name Anselmo Ballester for the classic era and Renato Casaro for the 1960s–1990s; Silvano Campeggi is the best known for Hollywood films. ### Were Italian movie posters painted by hand? The artwork was. Painters produced an original painting (bozzetto), which was then printed in several formats. The posters themselves are prints. ### Are signed Italian posters worth more? Yes, a signature by a sought-after painter usually raises the price compared with an unsigned or purely photographic design for the same film.