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The Soothsayer's Recompense, oil on canvas by Giorgio de Chirico, … (credit: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection)

(born July 10, 1888, Vólos, Greece — died Nov. 19, 1978, Rome, Italy) Italian painter. Born to Italian parents in Greece, he studied art in Munich and began painting images juxtaposing the fantastic with the commonplace. In 1911 he moved to Paris, where he produced ominous scenes of deserted piazzas with Classical statues, isolated figures, and oppressive architecture. The element of mystery in his work exerted a great influence on Surrealism in the 1920s. He is known as the founder, with Carlo Carrà and Giorgio Morandi, of Metaphysical painting.

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