Background
Guzzardi was born in Adernò, now called Adrano.
Guzzardi was born in Adernò, now called Adrano.
His early work showed such promise that the comune awarded him a stipend to study in Florence, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts under Antonio Ciseri.
He first trained as a child with a local painter, Vincenzo Costa. In 1874, he first exhibited at the Florentine Promotrice. In 1876 at the Academy in Florence, he exhibited The Virgin on Golgotha (now in Sanctuary of Maria Steamship Ausiliatrice of Adrano).
In 1876 he exhibited at the Florentine Promotrice Rural Idyll, which the Artistic Fellowship selected to be copied for distribution to its members.
He was also in demand as a portraitist. In the 1880s, he was named honorary professor at the Academy in Florence.
He returned to his hometown of Adrano in 1887, to bring help during a cholera epidemic. In 1900, he painted a Jesus appears to the Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, commissioned for the Cathedral Church of Adernò.
Two years later, he painted a Repentance of Mary Magdalene for the cathedral.