Garry Shead, Adrienne Levenson Soffritto di Lucio

Lucio Galletto is the owner of Lucio’s Italian Restaurant in Paddington where he has served sophisticated Italian food for over 25 years.

His patrons include artists, whose work lines the walls – a tradition he brought with him to Australia in 1977. His family’s restaurant Ciccio in the fishing village of Bocca di Magra, situated in the Liguria region of Italy, always helped local artists by displaying their work in return for dining, and Galletto has done the same here for Shead, among many others.

Galletto is the author of several books including Soffritto: a delicious Ligurian memoir written with David Dale. In 2008, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his contributions as a restaurateur and author. That year, Lucio’s was included among the top five international restaurants displaying art by The Independent newspaper.

In his portrait, Shead sets Galletto against the village of Ameglia, the area in which he grew up. In his arms he is holding an image of The Last Supper. 'He just makes you feel so welcome,’ says Shead. 'He treats everyone like family and makes them feel special.’ The Christ figure is also a reference to DH Lawrence (one of Shead’s inspirations) who spent time in nearby Lerici in 1914. Depictions of Dante and Beatrice in the background refer to the fact that Dante wrote part of his epic poem, The divine comedy, in Ameglia.

Shead started the portrait a year ago then put it aside until shortly before the Archibald deadline. 'It went exceptionally well until I got to the face again,’ he says. 'I had Lucio over a few times but I found him hard to capture. Adrienne started helping – and suddenly there he was.’

Levenson and Shead both studied at the National Art School. Their portrait of Galletto is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.