Courtroom Sketching Arrives in Italy: Andrea Spinelli and Cristina Valente's Pioneering Thesis

Key facts

• Andrea Spinelli, born 1990 in Milan, began courtroom sketching in August 2022 after watching a documentary on the 'Beasts of Satan' trials.
• Spinelli was inspired by his live painting experience and contacted Fabio Roia, then president of the Tribunal of Milan, to gain access to courtrooms.
• Cristina Valente, a teacher in Sardinia, wrote the first Italian thesis on judicial art, titled 'Ritrattisti d'arte nelle aule di giustizia'.
• Valente discussed her thesis on July 7, 2026, at the Accademia di Belle Arti 'Mario Sironi' in Sassari, with Spinelli as external co-supervisor.
• Valente's thesis compares Italian courtroom sketching with American and French traditions, interviewing Jane Rosenberg and Siegfried Mahé (Zziigg).
• Rosenberg's sketch of Donald Trump became the cover of the New Yorker.
• Valente created a three-dimensional model (plastico) inspired by historical judicial materials from the State Archive of Sassari.
• Spinelli uses simple watercolor tools and often spends hours in court, once following a prosecutor's closing argument for six hours.
• Spinelli and Valente advocate for the educational use of courtroom sketching to teach empathy, critical thinking, and civic values.
• Spinelli believes manual art is essential in the age of AI, as the experience of creating is central to the artistic process.
• Spinelli hopes to create a network of judicial illustrators in Italy and organize exhibitions to gain recognition for the practice.