POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) Allegory of the Arts (1740) Oil on canvas (175 x 138 cm) Frankfurt, Städelisches Museum To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and “Open in a new tab” In 1740, Pompeo Batoni began to work on a large canvas that was commissioned by a Florentine nobleman, the Marquess Vincenzo Riccardi. The subject …
Category: Italian Artists
Peace and War
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) Allegory of Peace and War (1776) Oil on canvas (136 x 99 cm) The Art Institute of Chicago, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and “Open in a new tab” In 1998 the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) acquired one of Pompeo Batoni´s most beautiful allegorical paintings. The picture was …
Frederick Lord North
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1753) Oil on canvas (93 x 75 cm) National Portrait Gallery (London) To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and “Open in a new tab” Frederick North (1732-92), later 2nd Earl of Guilford, was the son of Francis, 1st Earl of Guilford and Lady Lucy Montagu, …
John Monson of Burton
POMPEO BATONI (1707-1787) John, 3rd Baron Monson of Burton (1775) Oil on canvas: 249 x 175 cm Private collection To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and open it in a new tab. The only claim to fame this handsome and very elegant young gentleman would have had was to have been portrayed by Pompeo …
A gentleman in red
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) A gentleman in a red coat (1758-60) Private collection Oil on canvas (99 x 74 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new window") Pompeo Batoni, one of the finest portrait painters in European history, is beginning to emerge from the darkness to which he …
Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630)
(To enlarge the images, right click on them and chose "Open in a new tab") "The Cavalier Ottavio Leoni, the son of Ludovico Leoni, Padovano, was likewise known as Padovano although he was born in Rome. His father desired him to devote to painting and particularly to make portraits "alla macchia", a skill in which …
The Noble Musician
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) John Montagu, Marquess of Monthermer (1758) Oil on canvas (96.5 x 71 cm) The Duke of Buccleuch (To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") In my previous post, The Marquess of Monthermer, I mentioned that the young Lord Brudenell commissioned portraits from Batoni and Mengs. …
A medieval epic
PIER FRANCESCO MOLA (1612-1666) Erminia and Vanfrino tending the wounded Tancred (c.1653) Oil on canvas: 69 x 92 cm The Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco (To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") Born in a small village near Lugano, Pier Francesco Mola moved to cosmopolitan Rome with …
The Vision of St Francis
FEDERICO BAROCCI (c. 1530-1612) The Stigmatisation of St Francis (1594-95) Oil on canvas (360 x 245 cm) Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino Throughout his late period, Barocci continued to be much occupied with ecclesiastical commissions. Unlike the whole of the 1580's, during which he did not paint a single altarpiece for his native city, some …
Portrait of a Gardener
CARLO MARATTA (1625-1713) Portrait of Andre Le Notre (1679-80) Oil on canvas (112 x 85 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the image, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Carlo Maratta was one of the great Italian masters of the Late Baroque who excelled particularly in the genre of portraiture. From …
Old Masters 