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Portrait of a Young Man

ca. 1760–65
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 627
Commissioning a portrait from Batoni was practically a rite of passage for Grand Tourists in Rome. This young man’s identity remains unknown, but he chose the most luxurious format: a full‑length portrayal with the props Batoni used repeatedly to announce a Grand Tour education, including a statue of Minerva (the Roman goddess of wisdom), an astronomical instrument known as an armillary sphere, and books: guides to ancient and modern Rome, painters’ biographies, and Homer’s Odyssey. On the table is a large relief sculpture of Antinous, lover of the emperor Hadrian, that attests to the ready integration of ancient homosexual culture into the mainstream celebrations of an-tiquity that characterized the Grand Tour.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of a Young Man
  • Artist: Pompeo Batoni (Italian, Lucca 1708–1787 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1760–65
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 97 1/8 x 69 1/4 in. (246.7 x 175.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1903
  • Object Number: 03.37.1
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Allegory in Honor of Pope Benedict XIV, Pompeo Batoni Italian, Red chalk, highlighted with white, on beige paper
Allegory in Honor of Pope Benedict XIV
Pompeo Batoni
ca. 1745
Three Nude Male Figures; Study of the Right Hand of the Figure on the Left, Pompeo Batoni Italian, Red chalk
Three Nude Male Figures; Study of the Right Hand of the Figure on the Left
Pompeo Batoni
1708–87
Diana and Cupid, Pompeo Batoni Italian, Oil on canvas
Diana and Cupid
Pompeo Batoni
1761
Bust-Length Study of a Child, Pompeo Batoni Italian, Black chalk, hightlighted with white chalk
Bust-Length Study of a Child
Pompeo Batoni
1708–87
John Montagu, Lord Brudenell, Later Marquess of Monthermer, Pompeo Batoni Italian, Oil on canvas
Returned to lender
John Montagu, Lord Brudenell, Later Marquess of Monthermer
Pompeo Batoni
1758

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