Bust-Length Study of a Child

Pompeo Batoni

1708–87 · Black chalk, hightlighted with white chalk, on blue-gray paper · Drawings and Prints

Drawn after life, this delicate study renders the child's head and shoulders with the quiet naturalism that seems characteristic of Batoni, the eminent portraitist in the Neoclassical tradition. Born in Lucca, Batoni achieved a phenomenal international reputation as a painter, especially as a portraitist, and for decades was a prominent figure in the social and intellectual circles of Rome during the Enlightenment. The Museum owns two other drawings by Pompeo Batoni, one of which is a sheet of figure studies from the same date as this sheet (inv. no. 1975.131.5), and several canvases. The attribution to Batoni was confirmed by Edgar Peters Bowron, the noted specialist of the artist's oeuvre who edited the posthumous monograph by Anthony Clark.

Artist

Pompeo Batoni

Date

1708–87

Medium

Black chalk, hightlighted with white chalk, on blue-gray paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Thomas Williams, 1998