BATONI, POMPEO GIROLAMO

BATONI, POMPEO GIROLAMO. — Painter, born in Lucca on 25 January 1708, died in Rome on 4 February 1787. In Rome, where he went in 1728, he studied the sculptures of the Vatican and the paintings of Raphael; around 1739 he painted his first important work, the canvas with the Madonna and four saints for the church of S. Gregorio al Celio. Around 1740 he painted the Magdalene (in Dresden, until 1945); in 1769 the Fall of Simon Magus for St Peter’s Basilica, now in S. Maria degli Angeli. The Prodigal Son in the Turin picture gallery is dated to about 1773. In Rome Batoni worked on decorating the Quirinal Palace and the Colonna Palace. Much sought-after as a portraitist, he portrayed almost all the princes who came to Rome. Also famous are his portraits of Benedict XIV, Clement XIII, and Pius VI. In 18th-century Rome, Batoni, together with Mengs, was the most celebrated painter. He distinguishes himself from his rival by grace, the softness of form, the preciosity of drawing and colour, and the sentimentality of expression—qualities that, absent or nearly so in Mengs, place Batoni more firmly in the Rococo than in Neoclassicism.