Justo Santoni was born in Cuzco, Peru on March 2, 1956. He is indeed unusual for an artist of the twentieth century and especially so in Peru. From his early apprenticeship at the age of ten to the Spanish portrait painter, Sebastian Cruset, up until the present time, he has been a singular figure of great depth, painting his country and the things around him that he knows and believes in.

In an era when creative people are usually given one label or another, Mr. Santoni undoubtedly would be called a "realist". However, he does not fit into any set category, being neither an academic nor modern painter. As he so aptly phrases it, "the former is surface painting and the latter theoretical jargonizing, and I don't do either one". The well-known critic Peyton Boswell stated years ago, "by the mastery of his craft and his professional integrity, Santoni reflects the quality of a Renaissance artist, working and living in our country today". In spirit and tradition - not style - he falls into the direct line of Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and George Bellows. A characteristic most noted about his work is the tremendous versatility, both technically and visually. Technically, he can range from very detailed, minute work all the way to the freest, broadest type with ease. He has a complete mastery of all painting media and is as well known for his oils. His work combines the freedom of this medium with the depth and feeling of oil.

Besides his stature as a creative artist, he is recognized as a leading authority on old paintings and their restoration, and his firm, R.R.R. Associates, has acquired and dispersed important works of Art for many years. He has lectured extensively throughout South America and Mexico. There is no doubt that one of the most important artistic manifestations during the viceroyalty epoch was painting. It was given through a process of cross-cultural influence. The art arrived with the conquerors was not really Spanish. This art was more of a Flemish or Sevillian nature, and precisely within the process of blending the foreign and the native, is where a new and absolutely singular artistic blend is born - new and mestizo art. The main characteristic of their canvases is its religious themes that are given through the merge of European technique and indigenous contribution. In Cuzco, the natives assimilated the patterns of the new art and some of them that worked by commission from the church and convents, obviously used religious motifs such as virgins, angels and archangels. Because of this process and the emphasis to the development of the arts given by the church, the flourishing of the Cuzcan culture came in the late seventeen century and gave bird to what is now renown as the Cuzcan School.

One of the most important fine arts schools in Peru was the Escuela Cuzqueñña de Pintura, in Cuzco, set up when the village was rebuilt after a terrible earthquake in the 17th century. Indian slaves were instructed to execute fabulous paintings for the churches of the Spanish conquerors, and given illustrations to copy. The Indians' imitation of European painting was so accurate, amazing and popular that it became a unique style that is now called Escuela Cuzqueñña. This is why this art is so Spaniard, French and flamenco influenced but with their own inspiration and traditions, producing a result of very fine draws with abundant decorative elements in vestments. This school interpreted the baroque movement in a very special way by introducing unusual details such as plan metric perspective, flower decorations and golden bands in the brocade of vestments. Some characteristics of Cuzqueñña paintings by Santoni include characteristics such as flatness of perspective, brilliant colors with gold embossing, emotionally expressive detail, illustrate religious themes, insertion of indigenous elements and anonymous execution. Principal themes include Virgins, Archangels and Saints with large vestments.