Title: John Talbot

Artist: Pompeo Batoni

Portrait of John Talbot, Later First Earl Talbot 1773 Pompeo Batoni Italian, 1708–1787 Oil on canvas Posing for a portrait by the internationally renowned Batoni was a standard feature of a wealthy English tourist's stay in Rome during the Grand Tour. Here, the artist portrays John Talbot (1749–1793) standing before two famous Roman antiquities, the Ludovisi Mars and the Medici Vase. The clarity, grandeur, and simplicity of Batoni's best work anticipate the Neoclassical style of later portraitists, most notably Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) and Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792).