Leopoldo Metlicovitz (17 July 1868 – 19 October 1944) was an Italian painter, illustrator and poster designer.cTogether with Leonetto Cappiello, Adolf Hohenstein, Giovanni Maria Mataloni and Marcello Dudovich, he is considered one of the fathers of modern Italian poster art. Metlicovitz became a painter and portraitist without any formal training. He moved to Milan in 1891 and joined the Ricordi Printing house, becoming it's technical director. He developed an original approach to light and shadow and became one of  Italy's greatest Poster artists creating some of the most famous "Mele" designs among others.