Born in Laveno, Ampelio Tettamanti  during his youth moved to Milan where he took evening classes in drawing. To support himself he worked in a coating iron and steel factory. His first exhibition was held in 1937 in Milan. In 1943 Tettamanti joined the Italian communist party. He designed posters for the party and its official newspaper, l’Unità. In 1948 he participated in the Roman Quadriennale, where he exhibited his work again in 1952, 1955 and 1959. In June 1956 Tettamanti was invited to China as part of an artist exchange. He and a group of important Italian artists exhibited their work in Beijing. In 1957 he designed the cover of the Italian edition of the book Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Tettamanti had many exhibitions across Italy as well as in Berlin, Moskva, Geneve, Sao Paulo, London, Wien and Budapest.