Object Type
When rich young men went on the Grand Tour of Europe as part of their education, many of them took the opportunity to commission an Italian artist to paint their portrait. The frame made for this portrait is a good example of the British Neo-classical style.
Subjects Depicted
Edward Howard was the son of Lord Philip Howard. In 1764, in the course of his travels in Italy, Edward commissioned Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787) to paint his portrait. Frequently, the backgrounds in portraits of Grand Tourists included identifiable Roman antiquities, and here Batoni has inserted the ruined Temple of Vesta.
People
At that time Batoni was the most celebrated painter in Rome, and one of the most famous in Europe. For nearly 50 years he made portraits of Rome's visitors. He was equally gifted as a history painter, as well as being internationally known for his religious and mythological paintings. On completion of this portrait in 1766, he sent it to Edward Howard in Britain, who had returned home in 1764. It was finally mounted in an elaborately-carved British frame surmounted by an oval with a relief of Minerva and Cupid, very much in the decorative manner of Sir William Chambers (1723-1796), an influential architect and designer in the Neo-classical style.
Physical description
Portrait three-quarter length of Edward Howard, standing; wearing a scarlet costume trimmed with gold lace; holding a tricorne hat in left hand and the leash of a greyhound in right; the greyhound jumps up and paws him; behind at left is a vase with antique dionysiac reliefs; in the right distance is a view of the ancient Temple of Vesta. The portrait is in an elaborately carved contemporary English frame surmounted by an oval with a relief of Minerva and Cupid.
Place of Origin
Rome, Italy (painted)
Date
1766 (painted)
Artist/maker
Batoni, Pompeo, born 1708 - died 1787 (painter (artist))
Materials and Techniques
Oil on canvas
Marks and inscriptions
'POMPEO BATONI PINXIT ROMAE ANNO 1766'
'Edward Howard Esqr. 2nd son of the Honble Phillip Howard Esqr.'
'Pompeo Batoni'
Dimensions
Height: 139 cm estimate, Width: 101.5 cm estimate, Height: 251.7 cm frame, Width: 131.5 cm frame, Depth: 21.5 cm frame
Object history note
Purchased, 1949.
The frame possibly designed by John Linnell (born in London, 1729, died there in 1796)
Painted in Rome; the frame probably made in London
Historical significance: Pompeo (Girolamo) Batoni, (b Lucca, 1708; d Rome, 1787) was the most celebrated painter in Rome in the eighteenth century and one of the most famous in Europe. For nearly half a century he recorded the visits to Rome of international travellers on the Grand Tour in portraits that remain among the most memorable artistic accomplishments of the period. He was equally gifted as a history painter, and his religious and mythological paintings were sought after by the greatest princes of Europe.
Edward Howard (1744-1767) was the son of the Lord Philip Howard, who was the brother of edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk. He is described by David Garrick in a letter of 1764 as 'a very worthy good natured Young Man.' Behind Edward there is a carefully observed representation of the circular temple of Vesta, known in the 18th century as the Temple of the Sibyl, set within the Roman countryside. The ruined temple appears to have been one of Batoni's favourite motifs as it reappears in several of his portraits. The dionysiac scene represented on the vase appears in various versions and may be a pastiche.
Historical context note
Grand Tour Portraiture. The ‘Grand Tour’ was a journey, usually through France and Italy, made by classically educated male members of the northern European ruling class to complete their education, to acquire manners and languages and to attain an understanding of the politics of other countries, their economies, geography and history. Especially from the 17th century onwards, it was undertaken to admire (or pretend to admire) the remains of the Classical past and to collect art and antiquities.
The conventions of the Grand Tour portrait were brilliantly perfected by Pompeo Batoni who showed the wealthy and aristocratic youth of England and Scotland elegantly posed before the most celebrated statues and monuments of ancient Rome. If Batoni were too expensive or unavailable, other popular portraitists were George Willison (1741–97), and Nathaniel Dance-Holland.
Descriptive line
Portrait of Edward Howard with his dog. Oil painting by Pompeo Batoni, 1766.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Kauffmann, C.M. Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 20-21, cat. no. 16A
The following is the full text of the entry:
"Pompeo BATONI (1708-87)
Italian (Roman) School
Born at Lucca, he moved to Rome in 1727, where he was influenced by the antique and by Raphael and Annibale Carracci, and, among contemporary painters, particularly by Masucci, Luti, Trevisani and Imperiali. He was elected to the Academy of St Luke in 1741. In his early years he painted altar-pieces and allegories, but from c. 1740 he concentrated on portraits of foreign visitors to Rome, in which field his fame rivalled that of Mengs.
16A
EDWARD HOWARD (1744-67), WITH
HIS DOG, LEANING AGAINST A PARAPET
OVERLOOKING THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA
Inscribed (I) on the parapet, right
POMPEO BATONI PINXIT
ROMAE ANNO 1766
(2) lower right Edward Howard
Esqr. 2nd son of the Honble
Phillip Howard Esqr.
(3) lower left Pompeo Batoni
Canvas
54¾ X 40 (139 X 101.5) in an
elaborately carved contemporary
English frame surmounted by an oval
with a relief of Minerva and Cupid
W.36-1949
Edward Howard was the son of Lord Philip Howard, who was the brother of Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk. He is recorded in Florence in a document of December 1763 and may be identified with the 'Mr Howard' mentioned in an unpublished journal as being in Rome in May 1764 (information supplied by Brinsley Ford). David Garrick describes him in complimentary terms in a letter from Italy dated 25 June 1764: 'We lived in the same house with Mr Howard and Mr Langdale - I think it was lucky they travelled together - the first is a very worthy good natured Young Man .. .' (The letters of David Garrick, ed. D. M. Little and G. M. Kahrl, i, 1963, p. 420). Although it is not clear from the letter, this probably refers to Rome, where the Garricks stayed in March-April 1764. In any case Howard's Italian journey is documented for 1763-64 and it appears likely that he sat for this portrait in 1764 even though, as the inscription indicates, it was not completed until 1766. Batoni painted many such portraits of young Englishmen on the Grand Tour in Rome: J. Steegman listed ninety of them ('Some English portraits of Pompeo Batoni' in Burl. Mag., 88, 1946, p. 55 ff.). He has been credited with the invention of this type of portrait in which the sitter is shown against a background of the Roman Campagna (F. Haskell, 'Pompeo Batoni e gli Inglesi' in Mostra di Pompeo Batoni, catalogo, Lucca, 1967, esp. p. 84 f.). The Temple of Vesta, which appears on the right, was one of his favourite topographical motifs, second only to the Colosseum (see Steegman, p. 56; Haskell, pl. p. 83).
Prov. Family descent: the sitter's sister Anna was the wife of Robert, Lord Petre. Sold from the collection of Lord Petre, Sotheby's 17 Dec. 1947 (lot 53); bought by the Museum in 1949.
Exh. The age of Neo-classicism, R. A./V. & A. Museum, 1972, no. 17."
Liliana Barroero and Fernando Mazzocca, Pompeo Batoni 1708-1787. L'Europa delle Corti e il Grand Tour Milan: Silvana Editoriale S.p.A. Cinisello Balsamo, 2008, p. 276-277, no. 43.
Exhibition catalogue
Anthony M. Clark and Edgar Peters Bowron, Pompeo Batoni : a complete catalogue of his works. Oxford : Phaidon, 1985, p. 301-302 no. 295
Edgar Peters Bowron and Peter Björn Kerber, Pompeo Batoni : prince of painters in eighteenth-century Rome New Haven ; London : Yale University Press ; Houston : Museum of Fine Arts, c2007.
Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Oct. 21, 2007-Jan. 27, 2008 and thereafter at the National Gallery, London, Feb. 20-May 18, 2008.
For general reference only, not lent to exhibition.
Exhibition History
Pompeo Batoni: Lucca 1708 - Roma 1787, L'Europa delle Corti e il Grand Tour (Palazzo Ducale, Lucca 06/12/2008-03/05/2009)
Labels and date
British Galleries:
This portrait was painted in Italy, but its frame was made in London. It may have been designed by John Linnell, a leading cabinet-maker of the day who was greatly inflluenced by the architect William Chambers. Such a strongly Neo-classical frame, with its medallion showing the Roman goddess Minerva with Cupid, was considered a suitable choice for a portrait that was painted during the Grand Tour. [27/03/2003]
Materials
Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Ruins; Hats; Vase; Dog (animal); Tricornes; Howard, Edward; Temple of Vesta
Categories
Portraits; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
