Mauro Staccioli was born in Volterra in 1937. His artistic activity coincided with his experiences dedicated to art in Cagliari, where he founded il Gruppo di Iniziativa. This work continued first in Lodi and then in Milan. He dedicates himself completely to sculpture, after having experimented with painting and engraving. For Mauro Staccioli, sculpture must be site-specific: relating with the place in which it has been created. The place, therefore, has a fundamental importance. The city of Volterra in 1972 represented a turning point for the work of Mauro Staccioli; the works were defined by the sculpture itself, given that they were exhibited in different places rather than in museums or galleries. From this experience, an event was organised in Volterra in 1973 which would guarantee Mauro Staccioli the opportunity to exhibit at various Biennali, in particular those of 1976 and 1978. For the latter, he created Muro: walls of 8 metres which covered the Italian pavillion. Mauro Staccioli prefers to use very simple materials such as cement or iron and his artistic style is characterised by the use of essential geometric shapes. The works of Mauro Staccioli, apart from their simple style, also bring the viewer to reflect, such as the pavement that he created in Milan for the Studio Mercato del Sale in the beginning of the 1980s. The work of the artist has not been ignored abroad, where he has also been very successful, especially in Germany, Great Britain, Israel and France, thanks for the fascination that his ideas create. He continues to study the relationship between architecture and the environment and thanks to this study, he has been able to create the shape which characterizes the Rotonda della Besana in Milan. In the 1990s he continued his research in which he developped new shapes such as rings which highlight the landscape, spheres and other round shapes. He exhibits nationally and internationally, the most important being in 2003 and in La Jolla (San Diego), in the Lopez Building, where an iron beam crosses the front of the building and for l’Instituto Italiano di Cultura in Los Angeles, Tondo, which is awarded people of Italian origin who are successful in the field of art and science. Mauro Staccioli lives and works between Milan and Volterra.