Alessandro Franchi was born in Prato on the 15th of March 1838, in the suburb of Porta Santa Trinita, son of Antonio and Anna Piccioli. From a very early age, he had a passion for figurative art. He used to reproduce holy images or images of knights in their elegant costumes. His inspiration came from the characters he observed in religious processions that took place in Prato. The young Alessandro was working as an engraver, and was becoming a very talented artist. His teacher, in order to demonstrate his pupil's ability, wanted him to copy the Saint Antonio Fresco, by Filippo Lippi, in 1498, on the tabernacle. Funded by Ferrarini and Cesare Guasti, and with a student grant given by the Town Hall of Prato, Franchi went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Siena, where he studied under the tuition of the famous Luigi Mussini. In 1864 he obtained his degree, and during that same year, was asked to teach there. In 1888, he became the Academy's Director. He settled in Siena, which he considered as his second home. Since 1857, he was working on commission. The first important work was the piece he made for the Chancellor Enrico Bindi, who was one of the most influential scholars in Prato, and who was later to be Bishop in Prato and then Archbishop in Siena. In 1864, Franchi produced a painting in villa Guasti, in Galciana (Prato), using the fresco technique. He also produced many works in imposing and important buildings, so that his fame grew and he began to have commissions from abroad. We should mention some of the most beautiful works in Siena: the graffiti representing the Virtues and some of the Stories taken from the Bible on the pavement of the cathedral and the mosaic on the facade; the decorations in Santa Teresa's Oratory, in the Raffo Chapel (in Santa Caterina's Graveyard) and in the Town Hall. In Prato: the frescoes in the Vinaccesi Chapel of the cathedral. Many of his most important works are also found in the region of Liguria: decorations in the Church "del Carmine" (in Lavagna), in the chapels of the Chiappeto Seminary and of the Church "Sant'Anna in Nostra Signora del Monte" (in Genova). Besides his work as a teacher ,Alessandro Franchi also organised exhibitions, made restoration works in Prato and in Siena and wrote articles about art for Italian and French journals. He died in Siena on the 29th of April 1914. He was buried in the graveyard that contained many of his works and his tomb was designed by Luisa Mussini, his teacher's daughter, and since 1893, his wife and assistant. A few days after his death, the councillor Guido Papini dedicated a hall of the Pretorio Palace to his memory, exhibiting the drawings and other works that the artist had given to his city of birth in 1911.