Giovanni Domenico Ferretti

According to the contemporary Giovanni Camillo Sagrestani, Ferretti was a pupil of the Bolognese painter Giuseppe Maria Crespi.

[1] He returned to Florence with a letter of recommendation of Cardinal Gozzadini seeking patronage from Cosimo III de' Medici.

Ferretti soon joined the Florentine Accademia del Disegno, where he later taught painting but also designed tapestries for the Medici.

One of his most important works was the decoration of the ceiling of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, since lost in a fire.

Ferretti also painted series of canvases depicting burlesque genre scenes of characters from Commedia dell'Arte including Harlequin, Columbina, Pulcinella, and Ghiottone.