Born in the Tuscan town of Montemurlo, near Pistoia, Umberto Brunelleschi was an illustrator and costume designer by trade and a Parisian by adoption. In 1900, following his studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti* in Florence, he settled in Paris.

He was to live and work in France for almost his entire career, although he also spent some time in Germany, Italy and America. In June 1902 he began providing illustrations for the journal L’Assiette au Beurre, which had been founded the previous year, often signing his work with the pseudonym Harun-al-Rashid.

Admired in particular for his fashion illustrations, Brunelleschi worked for a large number of French, Italian, Spanish, English and American magazines, including ...