By Anne Leader
Painter Pompeo Batoni was born on 25 January 1708 in Lucca. The son of a goldsmith, Batoni learned to draw and engrave precious metals in his father’s shop. At age 19 he left to study painting in Rome and would eventually become the most celebrated artist of his day. He was especially popular with travelers visiting the Eternal City on their Grand Tours, creating portraits of the young men as records of their travels. He also found success creating religious and mythological paintings, which found their way into the collections of royalty throughout Europe.
He died on 4 February 1787 in Rome.
Reference:
Edgar Peters Bowron. “Batoni, Pompeo.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Portrait of Charles Crowle, 1761-2, oil on canvas, Paris, Musée du Louvre
Portrait of a Young Man, oil on canvas, c. 1760–65, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1903, Accession ID: 03.37.1; image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Holy Family, 1777, oil on canvas, St. Petersburg, The Hermitage
Samson and Delilah, 1766, oil on canvas, private collection
Achilles and the Centaur Chiron, 1746, oil on canvas, Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
Hercules at the Crossroads, 1748, oil on canvas, Vienna, Liechtenstein Museum