In 1927, he was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where he attended the courses given by Felice Carena in painting, Giuseppe Graziosi in sculpture, and Celestino Celestini in etching.

[2] He is buried in the Porte Sante (Holy Doors) cemetery at the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, overlooking his beloved Florence.

In London, they were held at Wildenstein's (1950 and 1954), Agnew's (1952 and 1956), the Federation of British Artists (1961), the Upper Grosvenor Galleries (1966), and at many Royal Academy exhibitions.

Numerous Italian cities that showed Annigoni works during his life included Turin, Rome, Florence, Verona, Brescia, Montecatini Terme, Pisa, Bergamo, Rovereto and Milan.

[4] His work bore the influence of Italian Renaissance portraiture, and was in contrast to the modernist and post-modernist artistic styles that dominated the middle- and late-twentieth century.

[2] Annigoni was chosen by TIME magazine to paint President John F. Kennedy for the (5 January) 1962 Person of the Year cover.

Other subjects around the world that Annigoni painted include HRH Prince Philip and several other members of the House of Windsor as well as the shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo, Florentine author Luigi Ugolini, ballet dancer Dame Margot Fonteyn, British actress Julie Andrews, Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev, and the Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur.

He alienated critics, who claimed his art was too representational, discounting the unique dramatic signature the artist brought to Renaissance tradition.

[11][12] A Museo Pietro Annigoni in Via dei Bardi in Florence, Italy, houses sixty years of the master's work.