Lot Essay
Christopher Norton (circa 1740-1799) was the business partner of the antiquary and cicerone James Byres (1734-1817). Resident in Rome, Byres was hugely influential in the expatriate community there and in determining the course of Grand Tour patronage. This portrait and its pendant of Byres (Aberdeen Art Gallery), alongside which it hung in the writing room at Strada Paolina, must be among the first pastels executed by Hamilton in Rome, and it is likely that Byres introduced the artist to some of his other English sitters in Italy.
The two were also depicted in a group portrait with Byres' parents and sister by Franciszek Smuglewicz (1745-1807) (Scottish National Portrait Gallery).
The two were also depicted in a group portrait with Byres' parents and sister by Franciszek Smuglewicz (1745-1807) (Scottish National Portrait Gallery).