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Lot Essay
This perceptive portrait was dated 1760 - the year of Batoni's successful portrait of Pope Clement XIII (Palazzo Corsini, Rome) - on the 'basis of style and handling' by Clark and Bowron, loc. cit., although the former had, in a letter of circa 1964, suggested an earlier dating, comparing the picture with the Baltimore Cardinal Prospero Colonna di Sciarra of 1754. The face and hands are treated with particular subtlety and the lace and watered silk of the costume are executed with that precision for which Batoni was justly celebrated.
Exhibited in 1961 as of Prince Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal York, this picture was part of the collection of portraits of members of the House of Stuart assembled by the 14th Earl of Moray, who acquired Blanchet's portrait of Cardinal York at the Hamilton Palace sale (Christie's, 8 July 1882, lot 116).
The identity of the sitter has not been established. Clark, in a letter of circa 1964, suggested Cardinal Domenico Rivera, Cardinal Protector of Scotland, who died in 1752. This identification was endorsed by Professore Carlo Pietrangeli. However in 1988, Carlo Sestieri reported the view of Professore Olivier Michel that a more probable candidate is Cardinal Nicolo Perelli (d. 1772), who was elevated in 1759 and served as General Treasurer of the Church.
Exhibited in 1961 as of Prince Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal York, this picture was part of the collection of portraits of members of the House of Stuart assembled by the 14th Earl of Moray, who acquired Blanchet's portrait of Cardinal York at the Hamilton Palace sale (Christie's, 8 July 1882, lot 116).
The identity of the sitter has not been established. Clark, in a letter of circa 1964, suggested Cardinal Domenico Rivera, Cardinal Protector of Scotland, who died in 1752. This identification was endorsed by Professore Carlo Pietrangeli. However in 1988, Carlo Sestieri reported the view of Professore Olivier Michel that a more probable candidate is Cardinal Nicolo Perelli (d. 1772), who was elevated in 1759 and served as General Treasurer of the Church.