Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors travelling throughout Italy and reaching Rome during their "

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

" led the artist to specialize in portraits. Batoni won international fame largely thanks to his customers, mostly British of noble origin, whom he portrayed, often with famous Italian landscapes in the background. Such Grand Tour portraits by Batoni were in British private collections, thus ensuring the genre's popularity in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. One generation later,

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

would take up this tradition and become the leading English portrait painter. Although Batoni was considered the best Italian painter of his time, contemporary chronicles mention his rivalry with

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (22 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German people, German painter, active in Dresden, Rome, and Madrid, who while painting in the Rococo period of the mid-18th century became one of the precursors to Neoclassicism, Neoclas ...

. In addition to art-loving nobility, Batoni's subjects included the kings and queens of Poland, Portugal and Prussia, the

Holy Roman Emperors The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperator ...

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

and Leopold II (a fact which earned him noble dignity), as well the popes

Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

and

Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

, Elector Karl Theodor of Bavaria, and many more. He also received numerous orders for altarpieces for churches in Italy (Rome, Brescia, Lucca, Parma, etc.), as well as for mythological and allegorical subjects. Batoni's style took inspiration and incorporated elements of classical antiquity, French

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

, Bolognese

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

, and the work of artists such as

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...

, and especially

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

. As such Pompeo Batoni is considered a precursor of Neoclassicism.

Biography

Early life

Pompeo Batoni was born in

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

, the son of a goldsmith, Paolino Batoni and his wife, Chiara Sesti. On 5 February 1708 he was baptized in the

Basilica of San Frediano The Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque church in Lucca, Italy, situated on the ''Piazza San Frediano''. History Fridianus (Frediano) was an Irish bishop of Lucca in the first half of the 6th century. He had a church built on this spot ...

. He moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1727, and apprenticed with

Agostino Masucci Agostino Masucci (; c. 1691 – 19 October 1758) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque or Rococo period. Biography Born in Rome, he initially apprenticed with Andrea Procaccino, and then became a member of the studio of Carlo Maratta. He joi ...

Sebastiano Conca Sebastiano Conca (8 January 1680 – 1 September 1764) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born at Gaeta, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, and apprenticed in Naples under Francesco Solimena. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, who ...

and/or Francesco Imperiali (1679–1740).

Career

Batoni owed his first independent commission to the rains that struck Rome in April 1732. Seeking shelter from a sudden storm, Forte Gabrielli di Gubbio, count of Baccaresca took cover under the ''portico'' of the

Palazzo dei Conservatori The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

on the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

. Here the nobleman met the young artist who was drawing the ancient bas-reliefs and the paintings of the staircase of the palace. Impressed by his skill and the purity of the design, Gabrielli asked Batoni to see some of his works, and when conducted to the painter's studio he was so awed by his talent that he offered him to paint a new altarpiece for the chapel of his family in

San Gregorio Magno al Celio San Gregorio Magno al Celio, also known as San Gregorio al Celio or simply San Gregorio, is a church in Rome, Italy, which is part of a monastery of monks of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine Order. On 10 March 2012, the 1,000th annive ...

, the ''Madonna on a Throne with Child and four Saints and Blesseds of the Gabrielli family'' (1732–33), a second version of which (1736) is now at the

Gallerie dell'Accademia The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery o ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The Gabrielli ''Madonna'' obtained general admiration and by the early 1740s Batoni started to receive other independent commissions. His celebrated painting, ''The Ecstasy of

Saint Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church. ...

'' (1743) illustrates his academic refinement of the late-

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. Another masterpiece, his '' Fall of Simon Magus'' was painted initially for the

St Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...

. Batoni became a highly-fashionable painter in Rome, particularly after his rival, the proto-neoclassicist

, departed for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1761. Batoni befriended

Winckelmann Winckelmann may refer to: * George Winckelmann (1884–1962), a Finnish lawyer and a diplomat * Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768), a German art historian and archaeologist * Johann Just Winckelmann Johann Just Winckelmann (19 August 1620 ...

and, like him, aimed in his painting to the restrained classicism of painters from earlier centuries, such as

and

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

, rather than to the work of the Venetian artists then in vogue. Commenting on Batoni, the art historians Boni and de Rossi said of Batoni and

Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (22 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German painter, active in Dresden, Rome, and Madrid, who while painting in the Rococo period of the mid-18th century became one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting, which replace ...

the other prominent painter in Rome during the second half of the 18th century, that ''Mengs was made painter by philosophy: Batoni by nature...(Batoni) was more painter than philosopher, (Mengs) more philosopher than painter.'' In 1741, he was inducted into the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

. He was greatly in demand for portraits, particularly by the British travelling through Rome, who took pleasure in commissioning standing portraits set in the milieu of antiquities, ruins, and works of art. There are records of over 200 portraits by Batoni of visiting British patrons. Such "

" portraits by Batoni came to proliferate in the British private collections, thus ensuring the genre's popularity in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, where

Reynolds Reynolds may refer to: Places Australia *Hundred of Reynolds, a cadastral unit in South Australia *Hundred of Reynolds (Northern Territory), a cadastral unit in the Northern Territory of Australia United States * Reynolds, Mendocino County, Calif ...

would become its leading practitioner. In 1760, the painter

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

, while visiting Rome would complain that Italian artists ''"talked of nothing, looked at nothing but the works of Pompeo Batoni"''. In 1769, the double portrait of the emperor Joseph II and his brother Pietro Leopoldo I (then

Grand Duke of Tuscany The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region. Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface :These were origin ...

, later

emperor Leopold II , house =Habsburg-Lorraine , father =Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Maria Theresa of Hungary and Bohemia , religion =Roman Catholicism , succession1 =Grand Duke of Tuscany , reign1 =18 Au ...

), won an Austrian nobility for Batoni. He also portrayed

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

and

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

. It is believed he painted the

staffage In painting, staffage () are the human and animal figures depicted in a scene, especially a landscape, that are not the primary subject matter of the work. Typically they are small, and there to add an indication of scale and add interest. Before ...

(background figures) for some of the landscape paintings of

Hendrik Frans van Lint Hendrik Frans van Lint (1684 – 24 September 1763) was a Flemish landscape and ''vedute'' painter who was part of the group of Flemish and Dutch painters active in Rome. He was one of the leading landscape painters in Rome in the first half ...

.Hendrik Frans van Lint, called le Studio (Antwerp 1684 - Rome 1763), ''Landscape with a Watermill and Dancing Figures (The Wedding of Isaac and Rebecca)''
at Gallerie Canesso According to a rumour, before dying in Rome in 1787, he bequeathed his palette and brushes to

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

, to whom, full of admiration for his ''

Oath of the Horatii ''Oath of the Horatii'' (french: Le Serment des Horaces), is a large painting by the French artist Jacques-Louis David painted in 1784 and now on display in the Louvre in Paris. The painting immediately became a huge success with critics and the p ...

'', Batoni would have confessed: "''Only the two of us can call themselves painters''".

Death

His late years were affected by declining health; he died in Rome in 1787 at the age of 79, and was buried at his parish church of

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( it, Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina or simply it, San Lorenzo in Lucina; la, S. Laurentii in Lucina) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. ...

. Batoni's last will executors were

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Filippo Carandini and

James Byres James Byres of Tonley FRSE FSAScot FSA (1733 — 1817) was a Scottish architect, antiquary and dealer in Old Master paintings and antiquities. Biography He was born in Aberdeenshire in 1733. Byres was a member of a family of Scottish Jacobi ...

, the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

, but the estate was insolvent and his widow was forced by the events to petition the

, whom Batoni had painted in 1769, for financial assistance, offering in exchange her husband's unfinished self-portrait, today at the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Personal life

From 1759 Batoni lived in a large house at 25, Via Bocca di Leone in Rome, which included a studio as well as exhibition rooms and a drawing academy. He was married twice, in 1729 to Caterina Setti (died 1742), and then in 1747 to Lucia Fattori, and had twelve children; three of his sons assisted in his studio.

Influence

Vincenzo Camuccini Vincenzo Camuccini (22 February 1771 – 2 September 1844) was an Italian painter of Neoclassic histories and religious paintings. He was considered the premier academic painter of his time in Rome. Biography Camuccini was born in Rome, and fir ...

is said to have frequented his studio. The Italian Angelo Banchero of

Sestri Ponente Sestri Ponente is an industrial suburb of Genoa in northwest Italy. It is part of the Medio Ponente ''municipio'' of Genoa. Geography It is situated on the Ligurian Sea four miles to the west of the city, between Pegli and Cornigliano. Its pop ...

, Benigno Bossi of

Arcisate Arcisate is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. The celebrated Arcisate Treasure of Roman silverware was found in the town in the nineteenth century. It is now in the British Museum. ...

, Paolo Girolamo Brusco of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Antonio Cavallucci Antonio Cavallucci (21 August 1752 – 18 November 1795) was an eighteenth-century Italian painter of religious scenes and portraits. Biography Cavallucci was born in Sermoneta in the Lazio. His artistic talents were recognized in an early stag ...

Sermoneta Sermoneta is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina (Lazio), central Italy. It is a walled hill town, with a 13th-century Romanesque cathedral called Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a massive castle, built by the Caetani f ...

, Marco Cavicchia of

Arpino Arpino ( Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the ...

, Adamo Chiusole,

Antonio Concioli Antonio Concioli (1739 – November 28, 1820) was an Italian painter, mainly depicting sacred subjects in a Neoclassical style. Biography Born in Pergola, Marche, to a family of professionals and bureaucrats, he was likely a descendant of the j ...

Pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

Domenico Conti Bazzani Domenico Maria Conti or Conti Bazzani (or Bazzano/Bozani) (Mantua, 1740 - Rome, 19 February 1815) was an Italian painter, bridging Rococo and Neoclassical styles. He is described as a disciple, and adoptive son of Giuseppe Bazzani, who was dire ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, Domenico Corvi of

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...

Felice Giani Felice Giani (17 December 1758 – 10 January 1823) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic style. His grand manner subjects often included Greco-Roman allusions or themes. Biography Born in San Sebastiano Curone near Alessandria, he moved ...

San Sebastiano Curone San Sebastiano Curone (Piedmontese: ''San Bastiau Curou'' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria, at the confluence of th ...

, Gregorio Giusti of Pistoia,

Gaspare Landi Gaspare Landi (6 January 1756 – 28 February 1830) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, active in Rome and his native city of Piacenza. Biography Landi is said to have been a fun-loving youth, but in 1781 he procured a subsidy to ...

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, Nicola Antonio Monti of

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...

Giuseppe Pirovani Giuseppe Pirovani (c. 1755-c. 1835) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, mainly active in Brescia. Born in Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, s ...

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, Pasquale Ciaramponi of

Treia Treia is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Macerata in the central Marche (Italy). It is north of Pollenza, west of Macerata, and north-northeast of Tolentino. Geography The site of the abandoned Roman municipium of Trea is situated ...

, and

Carlo Giuseppe Ratti Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (1737–1795) was an Italian art biographer and painter of the late-Baroque period. He was a pupil of the painter Giovanni Agostino Ratti. Born in Savona, he moved to Rome where he befriended Anton Raphael Mengs and Pompe ...

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

, were among his students or were influenced by his work. Among the foreigners,

Henry Benbridge Henry Benbridge (October 1743 – February 1812) was an early American portrait painter. Early life and education He was born in Philadelphia, the only child of James and Mary (Clark) Benbridge. When he was seven years old, his mother, who ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Maria Cosway Maria Luisa Caterina Cecilia Cosway (ma-RYE-ah; née Hadfield; 11 June 1760 – 5 January 1838) was an Italian-English painter, musician, and educator. She worked in England, in France, and later in Italy, cultivating a large circle of friends a ...

Ivan Martos Ivan Petrovich Martos (russian: Иван Петрович Мартос; uk, Іван Петрович Мартос; 1754 — 5 April 1835) was Ukrainian and Russian sculptor and art teacher who helped awaken Russian interest in Neoclassical ...

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...

, Johann Gottlieb Puhlmann of Zieko, and

Johannes Wiedewelt Johannes Wiedewelt (1 July 1731 – 17 December 1802), Danish neoclassical sculptor. He became a court sculptor, introducing neoclassical ideals to Denmark in the form of palace decorations, garden sculptures and artifacts and, especially, mem ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

were among Batoni's most notable followers.

Criticism and exhibitions

Batoni was among the most celebrated Italian painters in his day, and his patrons and collectors included royals and aristocrats from all over Europe. His fame and reputation decreased over the 19th century until 20th-century scholars dedicated their critical attention to him and again revived his fame among the general public. Among them the following can be noted: the German Ernst Emmerling, the Englishmen John Steegman and

Benedict Nicolson Lionel Benedict Nicolson (6 August 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a British art historian and author. Nicolson was the elder son of authors Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West and the brother of writer and politician Nigel Nicolson, Nigel. ...

, the Italian Isa Belli Barsali, and the Americans Anthony M. Clark and

Edgar Peters Bowron Edgar "Pete" Peters Bowron (born May 27, 1943 in Birmingham) is an American art historian and curator. Bowron served a director of both the North Carolina Museum of Art and the Harvard Art Museums. He is a scholar of seventeenth- and eighteent ...

. The first exhibition devoted to Pompeo Batoni was held in his hometown of Lucca in 1967, after which two other were organized in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1982. He was again the subject of a major exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in London, and the

Ducal Palace Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon *Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy *Pa ...

in Lucca in 2007-08. A portrait of

George Oakley Aldrich The Aldrichian Chairs were professorial positions at the University of Oxford during the nineteenth century, endowed by George Oakley Aldrich. His will left the residue of his estate to Oxford, to found in equal parts three chairs. By the 1850s the ...

, a fellow of

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

from the 1750s, identified in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

in Oxford by art historian

Bendor Grosvenor Bendor Gerard Robert Grosvenor (born 27 November 1977) is a British art historian, writer and former art dealer. He is known for discovering a number of important lost artworks by Old Master artists, including Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Claude Lorrai ...

and visual sociology researcher

Emma Dabiri Emma Dabiri is an Irish author, academic, and broadcaster. Her debut book, ''Don't Touch My Hair'', was published in 2019. Biography Dabiri was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Nigerian Yoruba father. After spending her early years i ...

, is the subject of an episode of

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

's ''

Britain's Lost Masterpieces ''Britain's Lost Masterpieces'' is a factual BBC Four documentary television series that aims to uncover overlooked art treasures in British public collections, in conjunction with Art UK. It is presented by Bendor Grosvenor, along with art his ...

'' first broadcast on 30 October 2019. After a full restoration by Simon Gillespie, the programme concludes with a positive attribution to Batoni made by expert in British 18th-century portraiture Prof.

Robin Simon Robin Simon (born 12 July 1956) is a British guitarist who was a member of Ultravox, Magazine and Visage. Biography Early career Robin Simon played guitar in a number of local Halifax based bands in the early to mid-1970s. The bands include ...

List of works

Allegory and History

(In chronological order) * ''The Virgin Mary enthroned with saints of the Gabrielli di Gubbio family'' — (1732–33),

San Gregorio al Celio San Gregorio Magno al Celio, also known as San Gregorio al Celio or simply San Gregorio, is a church in Rome, Italy, which is part of a monastery of monks of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine Order. On 10 March 2012, the 1,000th anni ...

, Rome; and (1736),

, Venice * ''The five allegories of the Arts'' — (1740) Stadelsches Kunstinstitut,

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

* ''Apollo and Two Muses'' - (1741) Museum of King John III's Palace at Wilanów,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

* ''Catherine of Siena in Ecstasy'' — (1743) Museo di villa Guinigi,

* ''Achilles and Lycomedes'' — (1745)

, Florence * '' Time orders Old Age to destroy Beauty'' — (1746)

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

* '' Fall of Simon Magus'' — (1746–1755)

St Peter's Basilica, Rome The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...

* ''Aeneas escaping from Troy'' — (1750)

Sabauda Gallery The Galleria Sabauda is an art collection in the Italian city of Turin, which contains the royal art collections amassed by the House of Savoy over the centuries. It is located on Via XX Settembre, 86. The museum, whose first directors were Robe ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

* ''Vulcan'' - (1750)

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

, Ottawa * ''Cleopatra shows Octavian the bust of Caesar'' - (1755)

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon is a museum of fine arts opened in 1787 in Dijon, France. It is one of the main and oldest museums of France. It is located in the historic city centre of Dijon and housed in the former ducal palace which was ...

*''Martyrdom of Saint Lucia'' — (1759)

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

, Madrid * ''The Holy Family'' — (1760)

Capitoline Museum The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazz ...

, Rome * ''Diana and Cupid'' — (1761)

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

* ''Madonna'' — Church of Santa Maria in Monterone, Rome

Portraits

* ''Portrait of a Man in a Blue Suit'' — (1760s
Dallas Museum of Art
* '' Portrait of Richard Milles'' — (1760-1770)

* '' Portrait of Humphry Morice —'' (1761)

* ''Portrait of Charles Crowle'' — (1761–1762)

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

* ''Portrait of

Lord Dundas Marquess of Zetland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 August 1892 for the former Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lawrence Dundas, 3rd Earl of Zetland. Zetland is an archaic form of Shetland. The Dundas family des ...

'' — (1764)

Aske Hall Aske Hall is a Georgian country house, with parkland attributed to Capability Brown, north of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It contains an impressive collection of 18th-century furniture, paintings and porcelain, and in its grounds a John ...

Yorkshire, England Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

*''Portrait of Manuel de Rodas —'' (1765) Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

* '' Portrait of Abbondio Rezzonico'' — (1766) Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome * ''Portrait of Sir Gregory Page Turner'' — (1768) Private Collection * ''Portrait of Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany'' — (1768) Private Collection * ''Portrait of Thomas Estcourt, Esquire'' — (1772) John Hay Library,

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

* ''Selfportrait'' — (1773–1774)

Uffizi, Florence The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

* ''Portrait of

Thomas William Coke Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (6 May 175430 June 1842), known as Coke of Norfolk or Coke of Holkham, was a British politician and agricultural reformer. Born to Wenman Coke, Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby, and his wife Elizab ...

'' — (1774)

Holkham Hall Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), 1st Earl of Leicester ...

Norfolk, England Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North ...

* '' Portrait of a Man (John Scott?)'' — (1770)

* ''Portrait of

'' — (1775–1776) Sabauda Gallery, Turin * ''Portrait of Douglas, 8th Duke of Hamilton'' — (1775–1776)

Inveraray Castle Inveraray Castle (pronounced or ; Scottish Gaelic ''Caisteal Inbhir Aora'' ) is a country house near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest sea loch. It is one of the earliest ex ...

* ''Portrait of Francis Basset —'' (1778)

, Madrid *''Portrait of Francis Basset 1st Baron of Dunstanville'' — (1778)

Prado Museum The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

, Madrid *''Portrait of George Legge Viscount Lewisham —'' (1778) Prado Museum, Madrid *''Portrait of Pope Pius VI'' — (ca.1780)

Royal Castle, Warsaw The Royal Castle in Warsaw ( pl, Zamek Królewski w Warszawie) is a state museum and a national historical monument, which formerly served as the official royal residence of several Polish monarchs. The personal offices of the king and the adm ...

* ''Portrait of

Pierre André de Suffren Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren (17 July 1729 – Paris, 8 December 1788), Château de Saint-Cannat) was a French Navy officer and admiral. Beginning his career during the War of the Austrian Successi ...

'' — (c.1785) *''Portrait of the Countess Maria Benedetta di San Martino —'' (1785)

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...

, Madrid

Gallery

Portraits

File:Pompeo Girolamo Batoni - Portrait of Cardinal Prospero Colonna di Sciarra - Walters 371205.jpg, ''

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Prospero Colonna di Sciarra Prospero Colonna di Sciarra (17 January 1707 – 20 April 1765) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the family of the dukes of Carbognano. He was the brother of cardinal Girolamo Colonna di Sciarra. Biography He was named Cardina ...

'', c.1750,

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

Mount Vernon, Baltimore Mount Vernon is a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, located immediately north of the city's downtown district. Designated a city Cultural District, it is one of the oldest neighborhoods originally home to the city's wealthiest and most fashio ...

File:William Legge, Second Earl of Dartmouth, by Pompeo Batoni, about 1752-1756, oil on canvas, view 1 - Hood Museum of Art - DSC09096.JPG, ''

William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, PC, FRS (20 June 1731 – 15 July 1801), styled as Viscount Lewisham from 1732 to 1750, was a British statesman who is most remembered as the namesake of Dartmouth College. Background Dartmouth was the so ...

'', 1752–56,

Hood Museum of Art The Hood Museum of Art is owned and operated by Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. The first reference to the development of an art collection at Dartmouth dates to 1772, making the collection among the o ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

File:Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1753).jpg, ''

Frederick North, Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...

'', 1753, National Portrait Gallery,

File:JohnRolleWalterByPompeoBatoni.jpg, ''

John Rolle Walter John Rolle Walter (c. 1714 – 30 November 1779) (born John Rolle) was Tory MP for Exeter in 1754–1776 and for Devon in 1776–1779. He held the honorary position of Town Recorder of Great Torrington in 1739–1779, due to his family's ...

'', c.1753,

Royal Albert Memorial Museum Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is a museum and art gallery in Exeter, Devon, the largest in the city. It holds significant and diverse collections in areas such as zoology, anthropology, fine art, local and overseas archaeolo ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

File:Clement xii.jpg, ''

'', 1758, Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia,

File:Pompeo Batoni - Portrait of Richard Milles - 1758.jpg, '' Portrait of Richard Milles'', 1758, the

File:Sir John Armytage, 2nd Baronet.jpg, '' John Armytage, 2nd Baronet'', 1758,

private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

File:Wyndham Knatchbull-Wyndham.jpg, '' Sir Wyndham Knatchbull-Wyndham, 6th Bt'', 1758–59,

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

File:Portrait of a Man in a Blue Suit.jpg, ''Portrait d'homme en costume bleu'' (vers 1760)

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

File:Pompeo Batoni.jpg, ''Charles Crowle'', 1762,

File:Portrait de Sir Humphry Morice Pompeo Batoni.png, '' Portrait of Humphry Morice'', c.1762, National Portrait Gallery,

File:Grafton3.JPG, '' Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton'', 1762, National Portrait Gallery,

File:The Cardinal de Rochechouart (Jean François Joseph de Rochechouart) wearing the Sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit in 1762 by Pompeo Batoni.jpg, ''Cardinal

Jean-François-Joseph de Rochechouart Jean-François-Joseph Rochechouart de Foudoas (27 January 1708 – 20 March 1777) was a French Roman Catholic Cardinal. Born in Toulouse, he was educated in the University of Paris, where he achieved licentiate in theology. After having been orda ...

'', 1762,

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, Mi ...

, Saint Louis, File:Pompeo Batoni 001.jpg, ''

John Montagu, Marquess of Monthermer John Montagu, Marquess of Monthermer, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton (18 March 1735 – 11 April 1770) was a British peer. Life He was born John Brudenell, the eldest son of George Brudenell, 4th Earl of Cardigan, by his wife Mary, daughter ...

'', 1764,

Boughton House Boughton House is a country house in the parish of Weekley in Northamptonshire, England, situated about north-east of Kettering. It is situated within an estate of . The present house was built by Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709), ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

File:Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon00.jpg, '' Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon'', 1764,

Scottish National Gallery The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

File:LBoccherini.jpg, ''

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European ...

'', c. 1764-67,

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

File:Pompeo Batoni - Retrato de D. Manuel de Roda - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Manuel de Roda'', c.1765,

File:William Gordon Batoni.jpg, '' General William Gordon'', 1765–66,

Fyvie Castle Fyvie Castle is a castle in the village of Fyvie, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. History The earliest parts of Fyvie Castle date from the 13th century – some sources claim it was built in 1211 by William the Lion. Fyvie was the si ...

Fyvie Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Geography Fyvie lies alongside the River Ythan and is on the A947 road. Architecture What in 1990, at least, was a Clydesdale Bank was built in 1866 by James Matthews. The ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

File:Philip Metcalfe by Pompeo Batoni.jpg, ''

Philip Metcalfe Philip Metcalfe, , (29 August 1733 – 26 August 1818), was an English Tory politician, a malt distiller and a philanthropist. The Metcalfe family were from Yorkshire of the Catholic faith and Royalists during the Civil war. Family and early ...

'', 1766–67, National Portrait Gallery,

File:Batoni lady mary fox.jpg, '' Lady Mary Fox, later Baroness Holland'', 1767 File:William Cavendish 5th Duke of Devonshire.jpg, ''

William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, (14 December 1748 – 29 July 1811), was a British nobleman, aristocrat, and politician. He was the eldest son of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, by his wife, the heiress Lady Charlotte Bo ...

'', 1768,

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family sin ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

File:Pompeo Batoni - Sir Gregory Page-Turner - WGA1508.jpg, ''

Sir Gregory Page-Turner, 3rd Baronet Sir Gregory Page-Turner, 3rd Baronet (16 February 1748 – 4 January 1805) was a wealthy landowner and politician in late 18th century England, serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk for 21 years. Gregory Turner ("Page" was added later ...

'', c.1768,

File:SirWilliamFitzherbert1748.jpg, '' Sir William Fitzherbert, 1st Baronet'', c.1768,

Tissington Hall Tissington Hall is an early 17th-century Jacobean mansion house in Tissington, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The FitzHerberts, descended from the Norman family of Norbury Hall, acquired Tissington by the marr ...

File:Pompeo Batoni 002.jpg, '' Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany and

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

'', 1769,

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

File:Portrait of George James, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley by Batoni, Pompeo Girolamo.jpg, '' George, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley'', 1772,

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walp ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

File:Batoni Thomas Estcourt Brown Library.jpg, '' Thomas Estcourt, Esquire'',1772, John Hay Library,

File:Portrait de John Scott Pompeo Batoni.png, ''Portrait of a Man'', 1774, National Portrait Gallery,

File:Thomas Kerrich (1748-1828), by Pompeo Batoni.jpg, ''Reverend

Thomas Kerrich Thomas Kerrich (4 February 1748 – 10 May 1828) was an English people, English clergyman, principal Cambridge University librarian (''Protobibliothecarius''), antiquary, draughtsman and gifted amateur artist. He created one of the first ''catalo ...

'', c.1774, previously at Geldeston Hall,

File:Pompeo Batoni - Ritratto di Papa Pio VI (National Gallery of Ireland).jpg, ''

'', 1775,

Palazzo Braschi Palazzo Braschi () is a large Neoclassical palace in Rome, Italy and is located between the Piazza Navona, the Campo de' Fiori, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Piazza di Pasquino. It presently houses the Museo di Roma, the "Museum of Ro ...

File:Pompeo Girolamo Batoni - Don José Moñino y Redondo, Conde de Floridablanca - 1974.386 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg, ''

José Moñino, 1st Count of Floridablanca José Moñino y Redondo, 1st Count of Floridablanca (October 21, 1728 – December 30, 1808) was a Spanish statesman. He was the Reform movement, reformist chief minister of King Charles III of Spain, and also served briefly under Charles IV of ...

'', 1776,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

File:Batoni - Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville.jpg, '' Francis Basset on the

in Rome'', 1778,

File:5th earl shaftesbury.jpg, ''

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 5th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 5th Earl of Shaftesbury DL FRS (17 September 1761 – 14 May 1811) was a British peer. Ashley-Cooper was the son of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury and Mary Pleydell-Bouverie. He was educated at ...

'', 1782,

St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles St Giles House is located at Wimborne St Giles in East Dorset in England, just south of Cranborne Chase. It is the ancestral seat of the Ashley-Cooper family, which is headed by the Earl of Shaftesbury. The estate covers over .Mosley, Charles edi ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

File:Pompeo Batoni - Ritratto della contessa Maria Benedetta di San Martino.jpg, ''Countess Maria Benedetta di San Martino'', 1785,

File:Leonardo Leo.png, ''

Leonardo Leo Leonardo Leo (5 August 1694 – 31 October 1744), more correctly Leonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was a Baroque composer. Biography Leo was born in San Vito degli Schiavoni (currently known as San Vito dei Normanni, province of Brindisi) in ...

'', 18th century, Conservatorio di musica san pietro a majella

Other subjects

Image:Batoni_Gabrielli_Madonna_Rome.jpg, ''Madonna enthroned with Child and Saints of the Gabrielli di Gubbio family'', 1732,

Image:Accademia - Madonna in trono e santi di Pompeo Batoni.jpg, ''Madonna enthroned with Child and Saints of the Gabrielli di Gubbio family'', 1736,

Image:Basilissa Julian.jpg, ''

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

with Saints Julian and Basilissa, Celsus and Marcionilla'', 1736-8,

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

File:1740 Batoni Allegorie der Künste anagoria.JPG, Allegory of the Arts, 1740, Städelsches Kunstinstitut,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

File:SacredHeartBatoni.jpg, ''

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

'', 1767,

Church of the Gesù , image = Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg , imagesize = , caption = Giacomo della Porta's façade, precursor of Baroque , mapframe = yes , mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a fulls ...

File:Batoni, Pompeo ~ Achilles at the Court of Lycomedes, 1745,

Galleria degli Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

, Florence.jpg, ''Achilles at the Court of Lycomedes'', 1745, oil on canvas,

File:Samson and Delilah Pompeo Girolamo Batoni.JPG, ''

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

and

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

'', 1766,

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

File:Hermitagebatoniholyfamily.jpg, ''The Holy Family with St Elizabeth and the Infant St John the Baptist'', 1777,

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

File:Pompeobatoni-sagradafam.jpg, ''The Sacred Family'', ca. 1763,

Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pala ...

, Rome File:Batoni Apollo and two Muses.png, ''Apollo and two Muses'', 1741, King John III Palace Museum, Wilanów,

File:The infant Hercules strangling serpents in his cradle - Pompeo Batoni (1743).jpg, The infant Hercules strangling serpents in his cradle, 1743,

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

, Florence File:1756 Batoni Marriage of Cupid and Psyche anagoria.JPG, ''Marriage of Cupid and Psyche'', 1756,

Berlin State Museums The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...

File:Martirio de Santa Lucía Pompeo Girolamo Batoni.jpg, ''Martyrdom of Saint Lucía'', 1759,

File:Batoni Diana and Cupid.jpg, '' Diana and Cupid'', 1761,

Pompeo Batoni 003.jpg,

The Return of the Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. Jesus shares the parable wit ...

, 1773, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Footnotes

References and further reading

* E. Peters Bowron and P. Kerber, ''Pompeo Batoni, Prince of Painters in Eighteenth-Century Rome'' (2008) * *

External links

*
Pompeo Batoni in "A World History of Art"
at all-art.org (not secure)

at the Wilanów Palace Museum
UK National Portrait Gallery
Images of

Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most ...

, Augustus Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, and

.
''Europe in the age of enlightenment and revolution''
a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Batoni (see index) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batoni, Pompeo 1708 births 1787 deaths 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Lucca Italian neoclassical painters 18th-century Italian male artists