POMPEO BATONI (1707-1787)

Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon (1763)

Oil on canvas: 292 x 192 cm

National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh

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Alexander Gordon (1743-1827) succeeded his father, Cosmo George, as 4^th Duke of Gordon in 1752 when he was still a child, and entered the army at the age of seventeen. He received a Captain´s commission in the 89^th Regiment of Foot which he raised for the Anglo-French War of 1778-83; the regiment was also known as “The Gordon Fencibles” (1).

Although we do not know when he went on the Grand Tour it is known that by March 1763 he was in Rome. The young and handsome peer was not interested in the slightest in Classical art or architecture as Joachim Winckelmann discovered to his great surprise and annoyance. He was one of those British travellers who, according to Charles des Brosses (2): “…will leave the city without having seeing anyone but other Englishmen and without knowing where the Colosseum is” (“Pompeo Batoni: Prince of Painters in 18^th-Century Rome”, p.87)

In 1767 Alexander married Jane, the daughter of the late Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet of Monreith. She was described by the diarist Sir Nathaniel Wraxall as a great beauty, a statement that does not ring true when watching her portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (Fyvie Castle). The marriage was not a happy one, both being notoriously unfaithful to each other.

Batoni portrayed the young Duke befittingly as a hunter because, as we know, he was not interested in statues or paintings but loved hunting. He is standing by his bay horse, dressed in a plain English red hunting suit; at his feet we can see the victims of his marksmanship: a roe deer, a hare and birds. With its twisted limbs in a rather awkward position, the roe deer is a masterpiece that places Batoni among the finest animal painters of his day.

Alexander´s pose is extremely elegant. I have been looking at the painting, trying to imagine a better pose, but I could not find one; Batoni had a knack for finding the right pose for his sitters, the only exception being the unfortunate portrait of Thomas Dundas. The Duke is holding his rifle and a glove with his left hand while his right hand is holding his hat; he does not need to have his horse by the reins or his mane, the noble animal was either very docile or was very well trained!

1 The Fencibles (from the word defencible) were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Usually temporary units, composed of local recruits and commanded by Regular Army officers, they were most often confined to garrison and patrol duties, freeing Regular Army units to perform offensive operations.

2 Charles de Brosses (1709-1777), Count of Tournay and Baron of Montfalcon, was an 18^th-century French scholar and historian. He is mostly remembered for his “Letters from Italy”, a collection of witty letters sent by De Brosses to his friends in Dijon during his travels in Italy from 1739-1740.