GHEZZI, GIUSEPPE. — Painter and draughtsman, born at Comunanza near Ascoli Piceno on 6 November 1634, died in Rome on 10 November 1721. He received his first instruction from his father Sebastiano, who had been a follower of Guercino. A pupil in Fermo of a certain Lorenzino, he later went to Rome where he made himself known with the painting depicting the Souls of Purgatory for the high altar of the church of the Suffragio (before 1674).
Admitted to the Accademia di S. Luca, he was elected its secretary, quickly acquiring renown and prestige, to the extent that he was sought after by nobles for the purchase of their paintings and for the restoration of works of art. In this way he exercised considerable influence in his time, an influence which certainly went 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) in S. Cecilia; five paintings in the ceiling of the chapel of St Francis Solano at the Aracoeli (1675–86); St Joseph with the Child 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.