Pompeo Batoni

M. & C. Sestieri, Rome;
By whom sold to the husband of the present owner in 1966.

New York, Colnaghi, Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787), 1982, no. 5.

Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787), exhibition catalogue, New York, Colnaghi, 1982, cat. no. 5;
A.M. Clark, ed. E.P. Bowron, Pompeo Batoni. A Complete Catalogue of his Works with an Introductory Text, Oxford 1985, pp. 234-35, cat. no. 90, reproduced plate 90 and in colour plate V.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting on canvas has been lined using glue as an adhesive. The paint layer is stable and has most likely been cleaned and restored. The retouches are clearly visible under ultraviolet light in very isolated and small spots, none of which are in the face, hair, chest or hands of the figure. There is a small spot of restoration in her blouse beneath her left shoulder, a couple of dots in the upper background, in her blue gown and a spot beneath the skull. However, this picture is clearly in lovely condition and should be hung as is.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Batoni began his career in Lucca, working as a decorator and engraver of precious metals in the workshop of his father, an eminent goldsmith in his native town. Before he turned twenty, Batoni left for Rome, where he studied classical antiquity and produced copies after antique sculpture for the Grand Tourists. He became a highly respected history painter and celebrated portraitist, with paintings of a religious subject matter constituting barely a fifth of his total output.

The Penitent Magdalene was a theme that was extremely popular in the early 18th century in Rome and such paintings would have been commissioned by patrons for private devotion. As Bowron has observed, the theme was treated amongst others by Benedetto Luti, Francesco Trevisani, Sebastiano Conca and Agostino Masucci, and Batoni himself painted The Penitent Magdalene on only one other occasion; in a painting formerly in the Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie, in Dresden (since destroyed), whose fame is attested to by numerous engravings and painted copies after it.¹  Unlike the Dresden picture where the Magdalene is shown full-length and reclining in a canvas of vast dimensions (121 by 187.5 cm.), here she is painted with a greater degree of intimacy. She is shown half-length and almost life-size, her figure brought to the forefront of the painting, with only a hint of background and the rocky cave only barely sketched in.²  Her smooth and milky-colored skin bathed in golden light, her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders in soft tresses, and her rhetorical upward gaze all serve to underline the Magdalene's former sinfulness and subsequent penitence.

The painting has been dated to circa 1745 by comparison with other works from the first half of the 1740s. Clark described Batoni's style at this time as 'a language at once grander, more energetic and forceful, and more obviously emotional (and even romantic)'.³  The restrained rhetoric of The Penitent Magdalene is reminiscent of that in Batoni's dynamic altarpiece of The Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena in Lucca, Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, which is signed and dated 1743.⁴  The most obvious point of comparison for The Penitent Magdalene is, however, the series of Apostles painted for Count Cesare Merenda for his gallery at Forlì in circa 1740-43.⁵  These demonstrate the influence of 17th-century painters, in particular Guido Reni, and Batoni was the only artist who successfully interpreted the classicism and refinement of the Seicento in the ensuing century.

The excellent condition of this painting allows one to appreciate Batoni's painting technique. He is known to have worked rapidly, often applying paint 'wet on wet' without waiting for the previous layer to dry, and thus his brushstrokes are textured and beautifully preserved, giving the paint surface a liveliness it would otherwise lack. Batoni successfully contrasts different textures within the picture: the softness of the Magdalene's hair contrasts with the heavy cloth of her blue drapery which, in turn, is different from the lighter, crisper, white dress underneath. The sketchiness of the background and of certain passages, such as the urn which is the Magdalene's symbol, contrast the areas of highly polished detail such as the skull on which she leans, her watery eyes and the tear running down her cheek. The painting is accentuated by Batoni's pure use of colour: the blue of her cloak appears to be a deep ultramarine while the golden light bathing her torso serves to convey a sort of divine intervention, perhaps marking the actual moment of the Magdalene's penitence and her inspiration to lead a better life.

1 See Clark, ed. Bowron, under Literature, pp. 226-27, cat. no. 60, reproduced plate 56.
2 Legend has it that Mary Magdalene retreated to a grotto in Saint-Baume in France.
3 A. Clark, "La carriera professionale e lo stile del Batoni", in Mostra di Pompeo Batoni, Lucca 1967, p. 109; cited by Bowron in Clark, op. cit., 1985, p. 26.
4 Clark, op. cit., p. 230, cat. no. 71, reproduced plate 70.
5 Ibid., pp. 231-33, cat. nos. 76-85, reproduced plates 75, 76, 78-85.