Pompeo Batoni
, Italian, 1708-1787
Title
Joseph Leeson, later 2nd Earl of Milltown (1730-1801)Date1751
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
99 x 73.5 cm
Signedcentre left (inscribed): P.B.1751
Credit LineMilltown Gift, 1902
Object numberNGI.702
ProvenanceMilltown Gift, 1902
Exhibition HistoryThe Milltowns, a family reunion, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 October - 15 December 1997Label TextFollowing his father, the younger Joseph Leeson went to Italy on a Grand Tour to broaden his education. In Rome, Batoni painted him in a similar robe de chambre as he had portrayed his father in several years earlier. As the painting is smaller in scale, one suspects that his father did not wish to be upstaged. The younger Leeson always remained in his father’s shadow and showed more interest in socialising than in art. The frame around this painting is Batoni’s favourite Salvator Rosa type, while that around the portrait of his father is executed in a more flamboyant Rococo style.
