Pompeo Batoni Esther before Ahasuerus ca. 1738-40 oil on canvas Philadelphia Museum of Art Pompeo Batoni Susanna and the Elders 1751 oil on canvas private collection Pompeo Batoni Return of the Prodigal Son 1773 oil on canvas Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Pompeo Batoni after Guido Reni Salome with the Head of John the Baptist ca. 1740-62 oil on canvas National Trust, Stourhead, Wiltshire Pompeo Batoni Rest on the Flight into Egypt ca. 1740-49 oil on canvas Dundee Art Galleries and Museums "In terms of his originality in solving the challenges of monumental painting, Batoni remains decidedly inferior not only to Carlo Maratti, but also to his rival, Anton Raphael Mengs. There is in fact no Sacra Conversazione, no biblical history or the like, in which he displays a surprising compositional invention or an ingenious reworking of any of the traditional schemes. It is characteristic of Batoni that he was perhaps the only major Roman master of the 17th or 18th century who never once tried his hand at fresco painting. A major part of the impact of his large paintings for churches lies in his tasteful use of painterly and luminescent techniques. This is not to say that he had the same natural instinct for chiaroscuro and tonality displayed by the great masters of northern Italy; his nocturnal scenes and his Glorias appear to be no more than pale imitations of Correggio or similar models. And yet in his manner of draftsmanship he devoted much love and penetrating observation to reproducing the effects of light and shadow. He always shows the finest understanding in the counterbalancing of light and shadow and the inter-play of transitional and intermediate tonalities in which painterly delectation is combined with the assured craftsmanship of the trained miniaturist." – Hermann Voss, from Baroque Painting in Rome (1925), revised and translated by Thomas Pelzel (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy, 1997) Pompeo Batoni Madonna Annunciata ca. 1741-42 oil on canvas Musée du Louvre Pompeo Batoni God the Father and the Holy Spirit ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire Pompeo Batoni Virgin Mary 1741 oil on canvas private collection Pompeo Batoni Crucifixion 1762 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Pompeo Batoni St Thomas ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire Pompeo Batoni St John the Evangelist ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire Pompeo Batoni St Paul ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire Pompeo Batoni St Peter ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire Pompeo Batoni St Matthew ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire Pompeo Batoni St James the Less ca. 1740-43 oil on canvas National Trust, Basildon Park, Berkshire