Cesare Benedetti (footballer, born October 1920)

Cesare Benedetti

Personal information
Date of birth	(1920-10-24)24 October 1920
Place of birth	Treviso, Italy
Date of death	9 July 2002(2002-07-09) (aged 81)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1937–1941	Treviso	75	(2)
1941–1943	Roma	12	(1)
1943–1945	Treviso
1945–1946	Roma	6	(0)
1946–1948	Salernitana	56	(?)
1948–1949	Treviso	12	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cesare Benedetti (24 October 1920 in Treviso – 9 July 2002) was an Italian football player and a painter.

Football

He played for 3 seasons (37 games, 1 goal) in the Serie A for A.S. Roma and Salernitana Calcio 1919, winning the Serie A in the 1940/41 season with Roma.

Painting

After retirement as a footballer, he became a noted painter. He was accepted at the House of Grimaldi, painting portraits of Grace Kelly, Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Caroline, Princess of Hanover and other dignitaries. He painted in the United States as well (including the portrait of Caroline Kennedy at 4 years of age). He also painted portraits of several Popes, including Pope John XXIII, Pope Pius XII, Pope Paul VI and a two-meters-high portrait of Pope John Paul II that hangs in the hall of the Treviso Cathedral, earning himself the nickname "Painter of Popes" ("pittore dei Papi").