POMPEO BATONI (1707-1787) Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon (1763) Oil on canvas: 292 x 192 cm National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Alexander Gordon (1743-1827) succeeded his father, Cosmo George, as 4th Duke of Gordon in 1752 when he was still a child, …
Tag: Grand Tour
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 …
A cultivated gentleman
ANTON RAPHAEL MENGS (1728-1779) Lord Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford (c. 1760) Oil on canvas (96 x 74 cm) Dunham Massey Hall, England (To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") As it is well known, Mengs and Batoni were the undisputed master-portraitists of their time. Every aristocratic British …
An Irish Gentleman
ANTON RAPHAEL MENGS (1728-1759) William Burton Conyngham Pastel on paper (65 x 48.5 cm) Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") Pastel was a very popular medium among artists in the XVIII century. Mengs had made his name as a pastelist in Dresden, …
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. …
The Marquess of Monthermer
ANTON RAPHAEL MENGS (1728-1779) John Brudenell-Montague, later Marquess of Monthermer (1758) Oil on canvas (244 x 171 cm) The Duke of Buccleuch (To enlarge the image, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") John Lord Brudenell (1735-1770), who wore the title of Marquess of Monthermer from 1766, was the only son of …
A young Gentleman
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1740-1808) Portrait of a young gentleman Pastel on paper (23.5 x 20 cm) Location unknown To enlarge the image, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Hamilton was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1740, the son of a wig-maker. Unfortunately, there is not much documented evidence about his early years. …
A Conversation in Rome
NATHANIEL DANCE (1735-1811) A Conversation Piece: James Grant of Grant, John Mytton, The Hon. Thomas Robinson, and Thomas Wynn (1760-61) Oil on canvas (96 x 123 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Nathaniel Dance's career resemble that of other British artists of that …
Purity and Meekness
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) Purity of Heart (1752) Meekness (1752) Oil on canvas (98 x 74 cm) Uppark, West Sussex, UK To enlarge the images, right-click on them and "Open in a new tab" The following paragraphs belong to Alastair Laing's excellent book (1) published by the National Trust and the National Gallery for the magnificent exhibition …
A Sad Gentleman
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) Henry Hutchinson O'Hara (1763) Oil on canvas (74 x 61 cm) Private collection Born in Lucca, Tuscany, the son of a goldsmith, Pompeo Batoni came to Rome when he was 21 and remained there for the rest of his life. He became the leading Italian painter of his generation. He specialized in …
Old Masters 