Vanni Saltarelli was born in Fino Mornasco (Como). His first artistic forays date from an early age – his teacher was Napoleone Saltarelli, an eminent painter and violinist, and his father.
After completing his Art levels at school in Milan, he studied at the Castello art college. He taught painting techniques and lectured in painting and fresco technique at the Aldo Galli Art Academy.
Vanni Saltarelli identifies totally with the physical character of his works. He sees his artistic creations as a physical shield onto which anxieties and uncertainties, and wishes and musings that arise from a sinking view of life are tossed.
The body almost always plays a central role and is represented in various morphologies – sometimes over elaborately as in Baroque art, and sometimes hard and secretive as in the anatomic structures of the Renaissance.
The magic of his paintings lies in the powerful, sometimes painful eroticism, although this is made relative by the pervasively lyrical sense. His contemporary works can be admired in museums, churches and galleries in Italy as well as internationally.