(b Comunanza, nr Ascoli Piceno, 28 June 1674; d Rome, 6 March 1755). Painter, draughtsman, antiquarian and musician, son of (1) Giuseppe Ghezzi. He has been described as the first professional caricaturist (Clark), yet he also painted decorative frescoes and created a new type of anecdotal and realistic history painting. As a portrait painter, his works are distinguished by their fresh naturalism. He enjoyed a privileged relationship with Pope Clement XI and his family, and was patronized by the Roman nobility, high churchmen and French aristocrats in Rome. It is their world, and that of the British Grand Tourist, that he portrayed—with humour yet without malice—in his many caricatures.

Part of the Ghezzi family

• Ghezzi, Pier Leone
  • Ghezzi
  • Ghezzi: (2) Pier Leone Ghezzi, §2: Portrait painting
  • collaboration
    • Amorosi, Antonio
    • Passionei
  • patrons and collectors
    • Benedict XIV, Pope
    • Falconieri
    • Poniatowski: (2) Stanislaw Poniatowski
    • Stosch, Philipp
  • personal collection
    • Krahe, Lambert
  • reproductive prints by others
    • Grand Tour, §III: The `Classic ground’, c 1700–62
    • Pond, Arthur
  • teachers
    • Ghezzi: (1) Giuseppe Ghezzi
  • works
    • Caricature, §1(i): Western before 1720
    • Drawing, §IV, 5: 18th century
    • Ghezzi: (2) Pier Leone Ghezzi, §3: Drawings
    • Rome, §V, 17(iii)(b): S Clemente, upper church: Painting