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Pompeo Batoni

Born: Lucca, Italy, 25 January 1708
Died: Rome, 4 October 1787
Nationality: Italian
Background: 

son of goldsmith

Studies: 

trained as metal smith with father; drawing at private academies in Rome

Career: 

1727 – moves to Rome; earns living drawing copies of ancient sculpture

-mainly a history painter until 1740s, when he begins making Grand Tour portraits of British aristocrats (more than 50 total)

Commissions from: 

Pope Benedict XIV, Friedrich II (the Great, King of Prussia),Catherine the Great (Empress of Russia), Maria Theresa (Empress of Austria)

Important Artworks: 

The Fall of Simon Magus, 1746-55 (Santa Maria degli Angeli, Rome)

Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, 1774 (Holkham Hall, Norfolk)