Pompeo Batoni (1708-87)
dal 19/2/2008 al 17/5/2008
Segnalato da
19/2/2008
Pompeo Batoni (1708-87)
The National Gallery, London
For nearly half a century, Batoni recorded international travellers' visits to Italy on the Grand Tour in portraits that remain among the most memorable artistic accomplishments of the period. Equally gifted as a history painter, his religious and mythological works were eagerly acquired by the greatest patrons and collectors in Britain and mainland Europe.
In his day, Pompeo Batoni was the most celebrated painter in Rome. The American painter Benjamin West said, ‘When I went to Rome, the Italian artists of that day thought of nothing, looked at nothing, but the work of Pompeo Batoni’.
For nearly half a century, Batoni recorded international travellers' visits to Italy on the Grand Tour in portraits that remain among the most memorable artistic accomplishments of the period. Equally gifted as a history painter, his religious and mythological works were eagerly acquired by the greatest patrons and collectors in Britain and mainland Europe.
This exhibition, which marks the tercentenary of the painter’s birth, will be the first comprehensive presentation of Batoni’s paintings in forty years. It will provide a vivid appreciation of the artistic achievement of ‘Italy’s Last Old Master,’ through the finest examples available in the public and private collections of Europe and America.
Batoni’s status as Rome’s most sought-after painter for both portraits and history paintings will be demonstrated by works never previously publicly exhibited, as well as newly discovered and recently restored works.
Supported by the Corporate Members of the National Gallery
National Gallery
Trafalgar Square - London