GHEZZI, GIUSEPPE. - Painter and draughtsman, b. at Comunanza near Ascoli Piceno on 6 Nov. 1634 and d. in Rome on 10 Nov. 1721. He received his first instruction from his father Sebastiano, who had been a follower of Guercino. A pupil at Fermo of a certain Lorenzino, he was later in Rome, where he made a name for himself with the painting depicting the Souls of Purgatory for the high altar of the church of the Suffragio (before 1674).
Received into the Academy of St. Luke, he was elected its secretary, quickly acquiring renown and prestige, so much so that he was sought out by noblemen for the purchase of their paintings and for the restoration of works of art. He thus came to exercise in his time a considerable influence, one that certainly goes beyond his actual artistic merits as a modest follower of Pietro da Cortona. Among his Roman works are remembered: St. Stephen and St. Lawrence (signed and dated 1676) at S. Cecilia; five paintings in the ceiling of the chapel of St. Francis Solano at the Aracoeli (1675-86); St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus adored by St. Nicholas and St. Blaise in S. Maria in Via Lata (1686); Creation of Adam; Resurrection of the Dead; The Magdalene and Rebecca for S. Maria in Vallicella (c. 1700). He left other works in Ascoli Piceno and its surroundings.
Bibliography
Gilberto Ronci