Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, 'Portrait of John Scott (?) of Banks Fee', 1774
About the work
Overview
This is traditionally said to be a portrait of the Englishman John Scott, who bought the estate at Banks Fee, near Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire, in 1753. During the early 1770s – around the same time as this work was produced – Scott did travel to Rome, where the famous portraitist Batoni worked. The city was a popular destination for English gentleman on their Grand Tour of Europe.
The sitter’s gaze is directed towards the lower right, as if he has been distracted by something out of view. He holds a walking stick and black hat, and leans on a stone plinth of a kind that would display a classical sculpture, which is inscribed with the date 1774. His shimmering blue silk coat, fur lined and trimmed with exquisite silver thread, stands out against a shadowy background.
Batoni did not invent the Grand Tour portrait but he made it his own, dominating the market with his precise drawing, high degree of finish and freshness of colour.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Portrait of John Scott (?) of Banks Fee
- Artist
- Pompeo Girolamo Batoni
- Artist dates
- 1708 - 1787
- Date made
- 1774
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 101.3 × 74 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated and inscribed
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Mrs E.M.E. Commeline in memory of her husband Col. C.E. Commeline, RE, 1960
- Inventory number
- NG6308
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
This painting is included in a list of works with incomplete provenance from 1933–1945; for more information see Whereabouts of paintings 1933–1945.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2023Masterpieces from the National GalleryShanghai Art Museum East17 January 2023 - 7 May 2023National Museum of Korea2 June 2023 - 9 October 2023Hong Kong Palace Museum22 November 2023 - 11 April 2024Chimei Museum2 May 2024 - 1 September 2024
Bibliography
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1807T.D. Fosbrooke, Abstract of Records and Documents Respecting the County of Gloucester, Gloucester 1807
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1958Atlanta Art Association, Italian Paintings and Northern Sculpture, Atlanta 1958
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1963National Gallery, Acquisitions 1953-62, National Gallery Catalogues, London 1963
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1967Mostra di Pompeo Batoni, Lucca 1967
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1971M. Levey, The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1971
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1985A.M. Clark, Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works with an Introductory Text, Oxford 1985
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1986Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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