Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico was born in Volos, Greece, in 1888. After studying art in Athens, Munich, and Milan, he developed the metaphysical painting style that would define his career in the years before World War I. His early works, showing empty Italian piazzas and long shadows, caught the attention of artists such as Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire.

De Chirico's best-known paintings feature Roman arcades, mannequins, trains, and deliberately distorted perspectives. He drew on the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche as well as the mythology of his birthplace. His signature motifs—ominous shadows, classical statuary, and eerily deserted urban spaces—created a sense of mystery that later inspired the Surrealists.

In 2026, his 1973 portrait of Ginetta Rondi Gariboldi was announced for auction by Aguttes, combining a realistic face with metaphysical motifs such as a mannequin and miniature architecture. His works also were included in the major exhibition 'Myths and Monsters: The Art of Fantasy in Asia' at M+ in Hong Kong. De Chirico died in Rome in 1978.