Gian Battista Bassi was an Italian painter. In his day he was defined as the "Master of Verismo".
Born in 1784 in Massa Lombarda, Giambattista Bassi joined the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna in 1810, and thanks to one of his paintings, he was awarded a three year stay in Rome.
Among many, he became friends with Tommaso Minardi, Antonio Canova and Pietro Giordani, thanks to whom Bassi was able to obtain his first important commission: two paintings for the King of Naples.