Collection: Pompeo Batoni

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (1708–1787) was an Italian painter born in Lucca. He moved to Rome in the late 1720s, where he established his practice. Batoni developed a solid technical knowledge evident in his portraiture and numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. His style incorporated elements from classical antiquity, French Rococo, Bolognese classicism, and the works of artists such as Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, and Raphael. He is considered a precursor of Neoclassicism.

The influx of foreign visitors undertaking the Grand Tour in Rome led Batoni to specialize in portraiture. He depicted British and Anglo-Irish gentlemen, often against Italian landscapes, which popularized the genre in Great Britain. His subjects also included European royalty, such as the kings and queens of Poland, Portugal, and Prussia, Holy Roman Emperors Joseph II and Leopold II, and Popes Benedict XIV, Clement XIII, and Pius VI. Batoni also executed altarpieces for churches in cities like Rome, Brescia, Lucca, and Parma, alongside his mythological and allegorical compositions.

During his lifetime, Batoni was considered a leading Italian painter, though contemporary accounts note his rivalry with Anton Raphael Mengs. His approach to Grand Tour portraits influenced later artists, with Sir Joshua Reynolds adopting this tradition in England.