Sebastiano Ghezzi (1580–1645) was an Italian painter and architect of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period.

Biography

Born in

Comunanza Comunanza is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Marche, Italy. It is a medieval village at the feet of the Monti Sibillini, founded in the 5th or 6th century by Ascoli refugees escaping barbaric incursions. ''"Sotto Comunanza é Africa."'' - Djane ...

near

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...

, he traveled to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, where he derived instruction in design from

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

. He however became more popular as an architect. He was named Papal engineer by

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

, and awarded a knighthood of the Cross. His son

Giuseppe Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

was known as a painter; his grandson, Pier Leone, has become known for his ink caricatures. Sebastiano frescoed the lunettes (1612–1613) in the cloister of S. Domenico in Ascoli, where he left a self-portrait. The frescoes are now significantly decayed. He also painted the main altar for the church of San Francesco in Comunanza.Comunanza website
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References

*
Guide to ''Ghezzi nelle Marche''
1580 births 1645 deaths People from the Province of Ascoli Piceno 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub