Antonio Fontanesi (23 February 1818 – 17 April 1882) was an Italian painter who lived in Meiji period Japan between 1876 and 1878.

Fontanesi was born in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, and trained with the landscape painters Prospero Minghetti and Vincenzo Carnevali.

His main area of interest was landscape painting, which he expanded on after visiting the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Upon recommendation of the Italian minister to Tokyo, Count Alessandro Fè d'Ostiani, the Meiji government contracted three Italian artists as foreign advisors: Vincenzo Ragusa (1841–1927) for sculpture, Antonio Fontanesi for drawing and Giovanni Cappelletti (died 1885) for the preparatory course.

Fontanesi introduced the techniques of charcoal, crayon and oil paints to his Japanese students, who included Asai Chū and Yamamoto Hosui.