on the cover of 1984's 'The Leap', a republishing of Hopkins' 1957 book, The Divine and the Decay. An outspoken artist, Annigoni wrote essays challenging modern art that disregarded the basic ability to draw. He alienated critics, who claimed his art was too representational, discounting the unique dramatic signature the artist brought to Renaissance tradition. Church frescoes Annigoni was active painting church frescoes in and around Florence. During 1980–1985 (starting at the age of 70 years) at Monte Cassino monastery, he completed his largest fresco, the dome of the monastery. In 1970 Pietro Annigoni painted "San Giuseppe" an affresco in the Church of Saint Joseph in Galluzzo. Honours In 1959, Annigoni was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Corresponding member. On 14 November 1975 Annigoni was conferred the Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (OMRI) In October 2010, the Italian Post Office issued a stamp commemorating the centennial of Pietro Annigoni's birth. Museums A Museo Pietro Annigoni in Via dei Bardi in Florence, Italy, houses sixty years of the master's work. Museo Annigoni, Florence, Italy Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy Benedetta Bianchi Porro Foundation in Dovadola (Forlì), Italy Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Indianapolis Museum of Art Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Minneapolis Institute of Art Royal Collection of Windsor Castle National Portrait Gallery of London Vatican Museums in Rome, Italy See also Pietro Annigoni interview BBC Radio; First broadcast: 15 May 1961 Annigoni: Portrait of an Artist References Further reading External links 1910 births 1988 deaths Artists from Milan Italian portrait painters Italian muralists 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Deaths from kidney failure Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze alumni 20th-century Italian male artists Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic