Peruzzini, Cav Giovanni

Peruzzini, Cav. Giovanni an Italian painter of Pesaro or Ancona, was born in 1629. Canon Lazzarini asserts that both Domenico and Giovanni Peruzzini were natives of Pesaro, and that they transferred their services to Ancona, their adopted, country. Giovanni studied under Simone Cantarini; acquired distinction, and painted several pictures for the churches at Ancona, Bologna, and other places. He was invited to the court of Turin, where he executed several works both in oil and in fresco, so much to the satisfaction of his protector that he made him knight of the Order of St. Maurice. He possessed a lively imagination, ready invention, and facility of execution. He formed a style of his own, founded on those of Cantarini, the Caracci, and Guido. He was vain of his facility, as appears on one of his lunettes of the portico de' Servi at Bologna, on which he inscribed, Opus 24 Hor. Eq. Jo. P. (the work of twenty-four hours, by Gio. Peruzzini, knight), which caused many sarcastic remarks from his brother artists. His best works are finished with more care. The principal at Anlcona are the Decollation of St. John, at Spedale, and St. Teresa, at the Carmelitani; at Bologna, The Descent of the Holy Ghost, in the church of SS. Vitale and Agricola, and an altarpiece of St. Cecilia in the church dedicated to that saint. Lanzi says, "In his picture of St. Teresa are traces of Baroccio's manner; that of the 'Beheading of St. John' is extremely beautiful, and there he appears a scholar of the Bolognese." He afterwards took to a wandering life, and painted in various churches and theaters, if not with much study, yet with tolerable correctness, a knowledge of perspective, and with a certain facility, grace, and spirit which delight the eye. His paintings are dispersed through various places in the Picenum, even as far as Ascoli, where are a number of his works. There are also some of his works at Rome and Milan. He died at Milan in 1694. See Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, 2:681.