Art and Emo Court
POMPEO GIROLAMO BATONI
1708 – 1787
John Dawson, 1st
Earl of Portarlington
(courtesy
7th Earl of Portarlington)
“Foreign
travel completes the education of the English gentleman” wrote Edward Gibbon in
Rome in 1765. The English and Irish
gentry moved south in a steady stream on the Grand Tour throughout most of the
18th century, hoping to complete their education in the classical
antiquities of Italy. Once they
had arrived in Rome, one of the most important things to do –
if they had the money – was to have their portrait painted by Pompeo Batoni. Batoni produced
portraits of around 200 British gentlemen visiting Rome, amongst whom
was John Dawson, the 1st Earl of Portarlington.
At the
time, Batoni was the most celebrated painter in Rome. The American painter Benjamin
West said “When I went to Rome, the Italian artists of that
day thought of nothing, looked at nothing, but the work of Pompeo
Batoni”.
The
portrait (above) was painted in 1769 (when the Earl was aged 25) in Rome, and is signed and dated ‘Pompeo Batoni/Pinxit Romae 1769’. Batoni always
offered to his sitters the opportunity to look truly grand, by placing them in
classical surroundings of pillars and elegant backdrops, and by painting them
in full uniform with sword and medals: the portrait of John Dawson is quite
restrained and thoughtful in comparison to many. It is in oils, depicting the
Earl half-length, in a green coat with gold braid and cream waistcoat, leaning
on a pedestal. It measures 37½ x 28 inches. The portrait would have hung in Emo Court during the residence of the
Earls of Portarlington there,
and possibly also the portrait (below) of Captain George Damer
MP, again painted by Pompeo Batoni.
In this half-length portrait, Captain Damer is
wearing a breastplate and sword and scarlet coat, his right hand rests on a
helmet, and he stands before a draped portico. The picture is of a similar size
to the portrait of the 1st Earl of Portarlington.
Captain George Damer MP
(courtesy
7th Earl of Portarlington)
A prevailing
theory in the 18th century was that culture came from the south of Europe. This idea was sometimes
carried to amazing extremes: the Bishop of Derry requested the architect John Soane to design “a classical dog kennel, as I intend to
build one for the hounds of my eldest son”. A London dining club – the Society of
Dilettanti, founded in 1732 – allowed membership only to gentlemen who had
visited Italy. Many of Batoni’s
sitters were members of this society which promoted Italian opera and funded
archaeological expeditions.
It is
of interest that, in the library of Mr Cholmeley-Harrison
at Emo Court, there is an auction catalogue
(undated) from Knight Frank and Rutley London. The
catalogue shows a portrait of Sir Edward Dering 6th
Bart, a distant relative of Mr Cholmeley-Harrison,
painted by Pompeo Batoni.
It was sold for £2152, but not to the last owner of Emo Court. (See below)
Sir Edward Dering 6th Bart