From the school of Guercino came Sebastiano Ghezzi of Comunanza, not far from Ascoli. He was eminent both in design and colouring, and at the church of the Agostiniani Scalzi di Monsammartino is a S. Francesco by him, which is esteemed an exquisite picture, and wants only the finishing hand of the artist. He was the father and teacher of Giuseppe Ghezzi, who studied in Rome, and was also a tolerable writer, considering the period at which he wrote. In his painting he seemed to adopt the style of Cortona. His name is frequently mentioned in the Guida di Roma, and more than once in the Antichità Picene, where it is stated that he was held in great esteem by Clement XI., and that he died secretary to the academy of S. Luke, (tom. xxv. p. 11). Pascoli, who has written his life, extols him for his skill in restoring pictures, in which capacity the queen of Sweden employed him exclusively on all occasions.
Pierleone, his son and scholar, possessed a style similar to that of his father, but less hurried, and became a more distinguished artist. He was selected with Luti and Trevisani, and other eminent masters, to paint the prophets of the Lateran, as well as other commissions. But for his chief reputation he is indebted to the singular talent he possessed in designing caricatures, which are to be found in the cabinets of Rome and other places. In these he humourously introduced persons of quality, a circumstance particularly gratifying in a country where the freedom of the pencil was thought a desirable addition to the licence of the tongue.
Other schools of Italy also contributed artists to the Roman School, who however did not produce any new manner, except that in respect of the two principal masters then in vogue, Cortona and Maratta, they have afforded an occasional modification of those two styles.
Gio. Maria Morandi came whilst yet a youth from Florence, and forsaking the manner of Bilivert, his first instructor, formed for himself a new style. This was a mixture of Roman design and Venetian colouring (for in travelling through Italy, he resided some time at Venice, and copied much there), while some part of it partakes of the manner of Cortona, and was esteemed in Rome. He established himself in this latter city, in the Guida of which he is often mentioned, and his works are not unfrequently found in collections. His Visitation at the Madonna del Popolo is a fine composition; and still more highly finished, and full of grand effect, is his picture of the death of the Virgin Mary, in the church della Pace. This may indeed be considered his masterpiece, and it has been engraved by Pietro Aquila. He was also celebrated for his historical pictures, which he sometimes sent into foreign countries, and more than in any other branch, he acquired a reputation in portraits, in which he was constantly employed by persons of quality in Rome and Florence, and was also called to Vienna by the emperor. There, besides the imperial family, he painted also the portraits of many of the lesser princes of Germany. Odoardo Vicinelli, a painter of considerable merit in these latter times, in vol. vi. of the Lett. Pitt. is said to have been a scholar of Morandi, and Pascoli does not hesitate to assert that he conferred greater honour than any other of his scholars on his master; I believe, in Rome, where Pietro Nelli alone could dispute precedence with him.
Francesco Trevisani, a native of Trevigi, was educated by Zanchi in Venice, where, in order to distinguish him from Angiolo Trevisani, he was called Il Trevisani Romano. In Rome, he abandoned his first principles, and regulated his taste by the best manner then in vogue. He possessed a happy talent of imitating every manner, and at one time appears a follower of Cignani, at another of Guido; alike successful whichever style he adopted. The Albiccini family, in Forli, possess many of his pictures in various styles, and amongst them a small Crucifixion, most spirited and highly finished, which the master esteemed his best work, and offered a large sum to obtain back again. His pictures abound in Rome, and in general exhibit an elegance of design, a fine pencil, and a vigorous tone of colour. His S. Joseph dying, in the church of the Collegio R., is a remarkably noble production. A subject painted by him to accompany one by Guido in the Spada palace is also highly esteemed. He enjoyed the patronage of Clement XI. by whom he was not only commissioned to paint one of the prophets of the Lateran, but was also employed in the cupola of the Duomo in Urbino, in which he painted the four quarters of the world; a work truly estimable for design, fancy, and colouring. In other cities of the state we find pictures by him painted with more or less care, in Foligno, at Camerino, in Perugia, at Forli, and one of S. Antonio at S. Rocco in Venice, of a form more elegant than robust.
Pasquale Rossi, better known by the name of Pasqualino, was born in Vicenza, and from long copying the best Venetian and Roman pictures, attained without the instruction of a master, a natural mode of colour, and a good style of design. Few of his public works remain in Rome; Christ praying in the garden in the church of S. Carlo al Corso, the Baptism also of our Saviour at the Madonna del Popolo. The Silvestrini of Fabriano have several pictures by him, and among them a Madonna truly beautiful. His S. Gregory, in the Duomo of Matelica, in the act of liberating souls from purgatory, is in the style of Guercino, and is one of his best works. In private collections we find his cabinet pictures representing gaming parties, conversations, concerts, and similar subjects, carefully finished on a small scale, and little inferior to Flemish pictures. I have met with numerous specimens of them in various places; but in no place have I admired this artist so much as in the royal gallery at Turin, in which are some ornaments over doors, and pictures of considerable size by him, chiefly scriptural subjects, executed in an animated and vigorous style, and with so much imitation of the Roman School, that we should think them to be by some other master.
Giambatista Gaulli, commonly called Baciccio, studied first in Genoa. Whilst still young he went to Rome, where under the direction of a Frenchman, and by the more valuable aid of Bernino, he formed himself on the style of the great machinists. As he was endowed by nature with a ready genius and a dexterity of hand, he could not have chosen any branch of the art more adapted to his talent. The vault of the Gesù is his most conspicuous work. The knowledge of the sotto in su, the unity, harmony, and correct perspective of its objects, the brilliancy and skilful gradation of the light, rank it among the best, if indeed it be not his best picture in Rome. It must, however, be confessed, that we must inspect it with an eye to the general effect, rather than to the local tints, or the drawing of the figures, in which he is not always correct. His faults in his easel pictures, which are very numerous in Italy and in foreign countries, are less obtrusive, and are abundantly atoned for by their spirit, freshness of tints, and engaging countenances. He varies his manner with his subject, assigning to each a peculiar style. There is a delightful picture in his best manner, gracefully painted in the church of S. Francesco a Ripa, representing the Madonna with the divine Infant in her arms, and at her feet S. Anna kneeling, surrounded by Angels. In a grave and pathetic style on the contrary, is the representation of S. Saverio dying in the desert island of Sanciano, which is placed near the altar of S. Andrea at Monte Cavallo. His figures of children are very engaging and highly finished, though after the manner of Fiammingo, more fleshy and less elegant than those of Titian or the Greeks. He painted seven pontiffs, and many persons of rank of his day, and was considered the first portrait painter in Rome. In this branch of his art he followed a custom of Bernino, that of engaging the person he painted in an animated conversation, in order to obtain the most striking expression of which the subject was susceptible.
Giovanni Odazzi, his first scholar, was ambitious of emulating him in celerity, but not possessing equal talent, he did not attain the same distinction. He is the most feeble, or at all events, the least eminent of the painters of the prophets of the Lateran, where his Hosea is to be seen; and indeed, in every corner of Rome, his pictures are to be met with, as he never refused any commission. Pascoli has preserved the memory of another of his scholars, a native of Perugia, in the lives of the painters of his native country. This was Francesco Civalli, initiated in the art by Andrea Carlone; he was a youth of talent, but impatient of instruction. He painted in Rome and other places, but did not pass the bounds of mediocrity. The Cav. Lodovico Mazzanti, was the scholar of Gaulli, and emulated his manner to the best of his ability; but his talents were not commanding, nor were his powers equal to his ambition. Gio. Batista Brughi, a worker in mosaic, rather than a painter, left notwithstanding some public pictures in Rome. He is called in the Guida sometimes Brughi, and sometimes Gio. Batista, the disciple of Baciccio, which makes it there appear as if they had been distinct individuals. I do not recollect any other artist contributed by Gaulli to the Roman School.
The Neapolitan School, which was in the beginning of this age supported by Solimene, sent some scholars to Rome, who adopted a Roman style. Sebastiano Conca was the first that arrived there with an intention of seeing it, but he established himself there, together with Giovanni, his brother, to meliorate his style of design. Resigning the brush, he returned at forty years of age to the pencil, and spent five years in drawing after the antique, and after the best modern productions. His hand, however, had become the slave of habit in Naples, and would not answer to his own wishes; and he was kept in constant vexation, as he could appreciate excellence, but found himself incapable of attaining it. The celebrated sculptor, Le Gros, advised him to return to his original style, and he then became in Rome an eminent painter, in the manner of Pietro da Cortona, with considerable improvements on his early manner. He possessed a fertile invention, great facility of execution, and a colour which enchanted by its lucidness, its contrast, and the delicacy of the flesh tints. It is true, that on examination we find that he was not in reality a profound colourist, and that to obtain a grandeur of tone, he adopted in the shadows a green tint, which produced a mannerism. He distinguished himself in frescos, and also in pictures in the churches, decorating them with choirs of angels, happily disposed in a style of composition that may be called his own, and which served as an example to many of the machinists. He was indefatigable too in painting for private individuals, and in the states of the church there is scarcely a collection without its Conca. His most studied, finished, and beautiful work is the Probatica at the hospital of Siena. Of great merit in Rome is the Assumption at S. Martina, and the Jonah among the prophets in the S. Giovanni Laterano. His works were in high esteem in the ecclesiastical state; his best appear to be the S. Niccolo at Loreto, S. Saverio in Ancona, S. Agostino at Foligno, S. Filippo in Fabriano, and S. Girolamo Emiliano at Velletri. Giovanni, his brother, assisted Sebastiano in his commissions, had an equal facility, a similar taste, though less beautiful in his heads, and of not so fine a pencil. He shewed great talent in copying the pictures of the best masters. In the church of the Domenicans of Urbino are the copies which he made of four pictures to be executed in mosaic; they were by Muziani, Guercino, Lanfranco, and Romanelli. Conca is eulogized by Rossi with his usual intelligence and discrimination (v. tom. ii. of his Memorie, p. 81.)
Mengs perhaps censures him too severely, where he says, that by his precepts he contributed to the decay of the art. He had his followers, but they were not so numerous as to corrupt all the other schools of Italy. Every school, as we have seen, had within itself the seeds of its own destruction, without seeking for it elsewhere. It is true, indeed, that some of his scholars inherited his facility and his colouring, and left many injurious examples in Italy. Nor shall I give myself much trouble to enumerate his disciples, but shall content myself with the names of the most celebrated. Gaetano Lapis di Cagli was one of these, and brought with him good principles of design when he came to study under Conca. He was a painter of an original taste, as Rossi describes, not very spirited, but correct. Many of his works are found in the churches of his native place, and in the Duomo are two highly prized pieces on each side the altar, a Supper of our Lord, and a Nativity. In the various pictures I have seen of him at S. Pietro, S. Niccolo, and S. Francesco, I generally found the same composition of a Madonna of a graceful form, attended by Saints in the act of adoring her and the Holy Infant. We find some of his works also in Perugia and elsewhere. The Prince Borghese, in Rome, has a Birth of Venus by him, painted on a ceiling, with a correctness of design, and a grace superior to any thing that remains of him, and no one can justly appreciate his talents, who has not seen this work. It should seem, that a timidity and diffidence of his own powers, prevented his attaining that high station which his genius seemed to have intended for him. Salvator Monosilio, who resided much in Rome, was of Messina, and trod closely in the footsteps of his master. In a chapel of S. Paolino della Regola, where Calandrucci furnished the altarpiece, he painted the vault in fresco; and others of his works are to be seen at the S. S. Quaranta, and at the church of the Polacchi. In Piceno, where Conca was in great reputation, Monosilio was held in high esteem, and was employed both in public and in private. At S. Ginesio is a S. Barnabas by him, in the church of that saint, which in the Memorie so often quoted by us, is designated as an excellent work. Conca educated another Sicilian student, the Abbate Gaspero Serenari, of Palermo, who was considered a young man of talents in Rome, and painted in the church of S. Teresa, in competition with the Abate Peroni of Parma. On his return to Palermo he became a celebrated master, and besides his oil pictures he executed some vast works in fresco, particularly the cupola of the Gesù, and the chapel of the monastery of Carità.