Antonio Ciccone (1939–2024) was born in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia), Italy. In 1954, with the help of Padre Pio, he went to Florence to study art in the studios of Nerina Simi and Pietro Annigoni, and at the Scuola Libera del Nudo at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts. From 1963 to 1980 he lived between Italy and the United States.
Over the course of his career, Ciccone held more than 100 solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the U.S. and produced numerous portraits, compositions, and landscapes in carbon pencil, China ink, oil, acrylic, and fresco. From 1986 to 1987 he created a major exhibition entitled Padre Pio and the Gargano Landscape, which travelled to England and Ireland. He also executed several frescoes, including The Nativity (1987) in Ponte Buggianese, Pistoia.
