Pier Leone Ghezzi

Ghezzi is usually considered the first "professional" caricaturist, creating literally hundreds of portrait caricatures of visitors to Rome on the Grand Tour. His meticulous line drawings of Englishmen like Dr. Thomas Bentley and Dr. Robert Bragge were both easily recognizable and easily reproduced, contributing no doubt to the spread of caricature beyond Italy.

Most of Ghezzi's portraits were in profile and included the head and shoulders. But he also created full-length profile portraits, and it was these that were most often imitated by Englishmen like Thomas Patch, and which inspired a host of "macaroni prints" in the 1770s.

What differentiates Ghezzi's portrait caricature from satiric caricature is their lack of specific satiric direction. They are witty and ironic (the exaggerated features deflated by the cool and economic line), but there is no moral imperative, no "should" or "should not" implied.

The caricature of Thomas Bentley included here was later engraved and published by Arthur Pond in a collection of twenty-five caricatures by Ghezzi and others. It was this group of caricatures published between 1736 and 1743 that prompted Hogarth's somewhat defensive and ultimately unsuccessful retort in Characters | Caricaturas [1743].