Francesco Gessi (bologna 1588-1649) - Lucrezia

Francesco Gessi (Bologna 1588-1649) - Lucrezia
Giovan Francesco Gessi (often referred to only as Francesco) (Bologna, 20 January 1588 - Bologna, 15 September 1649)

Oil painting on a panel

Expert: Prof. Alessandro Nesi

Dimensions: width 32 cm, height 44 cm


Francesco Gessi was an Italian painter, active in the Baroque era and working mainly in Bologna. He was born into a noble family and therefore destined to a life of ease, because of his early inclination towards painting, his father allowed him to follow his inclination and went to the workshop of Denijs Calvaert. This did not last long as it immediately came into conflict with the other students of the teacher belonging to a more modest class. It then passed to the workshop of Guido Reni. From this springboard it was easy to get orders in Ravenna, Mantua (work inside the Ducal Palace) and Naples where he did not consider completing the work because of a very dangerous competitive atmosphere in the city of Naples. It was the decoration of the Chapel of San Gennaro that marked the beginning of the disagreements between Gessi and Reni. Returning to Bologna he began a campaign against his teacher Guido Reni, attempting to compete with him by denying his teachings. He managed, despite everything, to open his own workshop in Bologna with Giovanni Giacomo Sementi, his main collaborator when they were together with the workshop of Guido Reni. Among his pupils were the brothers Giovanni Battista and Ercolino Ruggiero, Giacomo Castellini, Francesco Correggio and Giulio Trogli.