Pompeo Girolamo Batoni

Commissioned by Count Kirill Grigorjewitsch Razumovsky (1728-1803) and painted in Rome in 1766;
Thence by direct descent to the sitter's son, Prince Andrei Kirillovich Razumovsky (1752-1836) in 1803, and hanging in the Palais Razumovsky in the Razumovskygasse from 1811;
Thence by inheritance to his second wife, Princess Constantina-Domenica Razumovsky, born Countess von Thürheim, Thürheim Castle, Schwertberg, in 1836;
Thence by descent to her late husband's nephew (by his brother Count Gregor Kyrillovich Razumovsky, 1759-1837), Count Leo Razumovsky (1814-1869), in 1867;
Thence by direct descent to his son Count Camillo Razumovsky (circa 1852-1916), Schloß Schönstein, near Troppau, Opava, from circa 1890;
Thence by direct descent to his son Count Andreas Razumovsky (1892-1981), Schloß Schönstein, near Troppau, Opava, until 1946;
Thence by direct family descent to the present owner.

Rome, Museo di Roma, Il Settecento a Roma, 19 March - 31 May 1959, no. 44;
Waddesden Manor, Buckinghamshire, The National Trust, on loan 1997-1999;
Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinsitut and Städtische Galerie, Mehr Licht: Eurpa um 1770. Die bildende Kunst der Aufklärung, 22 August 1999 - 9 January 2000, no. 11;
Philadelphia, Museum of Art, 16 March - 28 May 2000, and Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 25 June - 7 September 2000, Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century, no. 171;
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, on loan 2000-2001;
Rome, Il Quirinale, Autumn 2004, and Moscow, Pushkin Museum, Spring 2005, Italy-Russia, From Giotto to Malevich;
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Pompeo Batoni, Prince of Painters in Eighteenth Century Rome, 21 October 2007 - 27 January 2008, no. 62.

A. Vasil'cikov, The Razumovsky Family, St. Petersburg 1887, vol. IV, p. 401;
Grand Duke Nicholas Romanoff Mikhailovitch, Portraits Russes des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, St. Petersburg 1906, vol. II, no. 13, reproduced plate 13;
Il Settecento a Roma, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Museo di Roma, 19 March - 31 May 1959, cat. no. 44, reproduced plate18;
V. Antonov, Clienti Russi del Batoni, Antologia di Belle Arti, 1977, vol. I, pp. 351 and 353, footnote 6;
S. Rudolph ed., La Pittura del '700 a Roma, Milan 1983, reproduced plate 57;
E.P. Bowron, ''Le Portrait de Charles John Crowe par Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787); les 'dilettanti' et le 'Grand Tour'', in Revue du Louvre, vol. 35, no. I, 1985, p. 29, reproduced fig. 4;
A.M. Clark, Pompeo Batoni : A Complete Catalogue of his Works with an Introductory Text, ed. E.P. Bowron, Oxford 1985, pp. 303-04, cat. no. 299, reproduced plate 274;
S. Pinto, "La Corte Russa e L'Europa: simboli conduisi dell'assolutismo e oggetti di scambio diplomatico", in B. Alfieri ed., San Pietroburgo, 1703-1825: Arte di Corte dal Museo dell'Ermitage, pp. 347-60, Milan 1991, pp. 350-351 and 356;
H. Brigstocke, in Masterpieces from Yorkshire Houses, exhibition catalogue, York, City Art Gallery, 29 January - 20 March 1994, p. 70, under no. 31;
E.P. Bowron, in The Dictionary of Art, London 1996, vol. III, p. 382;
B. Allen, in Grand Tour. The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century, exhibition catalogue, London, Tate Gallery, 10 October 1996 - 5 January 1997, p. 59, under no. 16;
H. Beck, P.C. Bol & M. Bückling eds., Mehr Licht: Europa um 1770. Die bildende Kunst der Aufklärung, exhibition catalogue, Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinsitut and Städtische Galerie, 22 August 1999 - 9 January 2000, pp. 30-31, cat. no. 11, reproduced in colour;
E.P. Bowron & J.J. Rishel, Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century, exhibition catalogue, Philadelphia, Museum of Art, 16 March - 28 May 2000; Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 25 June - 7 September 2000, pp. 315-17, cat. no. 171, reproduced in colour;
E.P. Bowron & P. Björn Kerber, Pompeo Batoni, Prince of Painters in Eighteenth Century Rome, exhibition catalogue, Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 21 October 2007- 27 January 2008; London, National Gallery, 20 February - 18 May 2008, pp. 84, 106-7, 109, 168-9, 172, and 179, cat. no. 62, reproduced in colour on p. 107, fig. 96.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This vast portrait has been recently restored and also perhaps at the same time relined - it was not possible to see the back, but the canvas appears to be strongly supported and the paint is now held firmly, where previous brittleness can be traced. Evidently with a painting of this size the likelihood of rolling is clear, and the surface does suggest some early accentuation of the canvas texture as well as a certain amount of horizontal craquelure. Later brittleness led to minute flaking of the paint. However clearly the importance of the painting and of the sitter ensured that tears or accidental damages were avoided. Microscopic lost flakes are scattered to some extent across the surface without necessarily needing retouching, but in areas of greater past brittleness the flaking has been quite widely touched in. Patches with more extensive retouching can be seen under ultra violet light in the lower left corner and the pavement nearby, and in various other background areas such as the wall in the lower background, the alcove wall and particularly up the column, and on the wall to the right with a certain amount in the curtain. The figure has been far less affected, with an area of retouching in the lining of the skirt of the jacket but scarcely any in the face apart from a few little touches to the side of the cheek. The magnificent detail of the figure is remarkably well preserved, as is much of the surrounding sculpture, the inscription and fine drapery above. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This grand portrait of Count Kirill Grigorjewitsch Razumovsky (1728-1803) was painted in Rome in 1766 by the leading Roman portraitist of the second half of the 18th century, Pompeo Batoni. The sitter was born of humble origins in the Ukraine and rose to become one of the richest and most powerful men in Russia. He was the de facto ruler of his native province of Ukraine, following his appointment as Grand Hetman in 1750, and enjoyed a place at the court of Empress Catherine II, who described him in her memoirs as a handsome, witty and extremely charming man. The painting, which ranks among Batoni's most monumental and impressive portraits, enjoys a particularly distinguished provenance, coming directly from the heirs of the sitter, in whose family it has been for more than two centuries.

Count Kirill was younger brother to Alexei Razumovsky, the morganatic husband of Empress Elizabeth, to whom our sitter owed his position and immense wealth. In 1744 he was elevated to the nobility and appointed Royal Chamberlain the following year. In 1746 he became Field Marshal and President of the Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg and from 1750 until 1764 served as Grand Hetman of Ukraine, which he effectively ruled during this time. Following his support for the future Empress Catherine II in the Palace Revolution of 1762, he enjoyed a place at the Empress' court and an annual pension of 50,000 roubles, which enabled him to lead a life of considerable luxury and indulge in his passion as a leading patron of the arts.

In 1765-67 Razumovsky undertook a Grand Tour of Europe. His first stop was Berlin, where he visited Frederick II, an important patron of Batoni, who owned the artist's Marriage of Cupid and Psyche and commissioned a number of other works from him. Razumovsky arrived in Rome in the spring of 1766 and quickly made Batoni's acquaintance. The artist, who was recently the subject of a monographic exhibition, enjoyed a position as the pre-eminent and most fashionable portraitist to the wealthy European aristocrats who visited Rome on the Grand Tour during the mid-18th century. In the event, Razumovsky not only commissioned the present highly impressive portrait of himself, but furthermore purchased from Batoni a Holy Family (today untraced), as well as a Choice of Hercules, a painting today in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (see fig. 1), for which he paid the considerable sum of 700 zecchini.¹

The significance of Razumovsky's patronage of the Roman painter extended beyond his own acquisitions. He was Batoni's first Russian patron and on account of the success of the present portrait and Razumovsky's other works by the artist, Batoni received a substantial number of other commissions from members of the Court in Saint Petersburg, including the Empress Catherine II herself. Indeed, following Razumovsky's return to Russia in September 1767, the Empress ordered a large pair of mythological paintings representing Chiron Returns Achilles to Thetis and The Continence of Scipio, both of which are today in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.²  The commission was handled by the diplomat Count Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (1727-1797) and at the time the paintings were the most expensive works sold by Batoni, at least until the visit to Rome of the Empress's son Grand Duke Paul of Russia (1754-1801) and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna (1759-1828).

In the catalogue of the recent exhibition dedicated to Pompeo Batoni in Houston and London, Dr. Edgar Peters Bowron describes the present portrait as 'unrivalled in the grandeur of conception and matched in size among Batoni's portraits only by two other whole-lengths'. The portrait is certainly one of the grandest and most impressive depictions of a sitter ever undertaken by Batoni. Razumovsky is shown full-length, wearing a rich scarlet suit, with the star, sash and badge of the Order of Saint Andrew and on his breast the Polish Order of the White Eagle. He is depicted within a sculpture gallery and gestures towards famous rediscovered antique sculptures: the Vatican Ariadne, the Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoön and the Belvedere Antinous. The imposing figure of the sitter dominates his surroundings and portrays a man of power and wealth at ease in a world of high culture and sophistication. The monumental scale of the portrait, the detailed sculpture gallery setting, the draped curtain and the exquisite quality of the painting point to a highly expensive commission, a factor seemingly of little concern to the affluent sitter.

For the overall mise-en-scène, Batoni appears to have sought inspiration from his earlier portrait, painted in circa 1763-64, depicting Thomas Dundas, later 1st Baron Dundas (1741-1820), a painting today in the collection of the Marquess of Zetland at Aske Hall, North Yorkshire.³  It seems likely that Razumovsky either saw the work itself or a ricordo in Batoni's studio, for the sitter is depicted in a similar sculpture gallery setting, with the same statuary merely arranged in a different configuration. The Dundas portrait, although of almost identical size, is more restrained and less opulent than the present work, in large part through the omission of the draped curtain, the chair and the richness of the sitter's costume. What is particularly striking however is the difference in attitude of the sitters. The Englishman looks modestly and reservedly over his right shoulder off to the side of the scene, whilst Razumovsky looks boldly and directly outwards to the beholder, thereby further underlining the confidence and power of this engaging character.

Additional information on the sitter
Kirill Grigorjewitsch Razumovsky (1728-1803) was born into a left-bank Ukrainian shjachta family. His elder brother Alexei helped gain the support of key decision makers within the Ukrainian kozak ranks for the Putsch to bring the Grand-Duchess Elisabeth Petrovna Romanov to power in 1741. After Alexei's secret marriage to the Empress in 1742, Kirill was elevated by the Empress to the rank of Count of the Russian Empire in 1745, appointed Royal Chamberlain and created a Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky. Subsequently, he became founding President of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences at the age of 22, employing Mikhail Lomonosov against all criticism to implement his visions, and was later awarded the knighthood of the Order of St. Andrew – the highest decoration in the Russian Empire. Kirill remains most significant however as a historical figure, for he was to serve as the last Grand Hetman of the Cossacks, ruler and responsible for the administration of left and right bank Ukraine between 1750 and 1764. He also became the last Duke of the Zaporizhzhian Host. Through his marriage to Catharina Ivanovna Narishkina, a niece of Czar Peter the Great and cousin to Empress Elisabeth, Kirill Razumovsky became an integral part of Russia's innermost power-circles. After Elisabeth's death and Peter III's ascent to power, Kirill, recognising the Czar's inherent weaknesses and inability to rule the empire, played an important role in the Putsch which overthrew Czar Peter III in 1762 – the Czar meeting his death on a Razumovsky-owned domain near Moscow - and brought the Emperor's estranged wife Catherine of Saxe-Anhalt (later known as Catherine the Great) to the throne. 

In her memoirs, Catherine II makes note of Kirill's role in her ascending the throne and describes Razumovsky as a handsome, witty and extremely charming man, whose intellect greatly surpassed that of his brother, and observed that the most beautiful women at Court squabbled over him. Apart from his personal achievements, Kirill Razumovsky is well remembered for the important roles played by two of his sons in the Russian Empire: his eldest, Count Alexei, who became minister for education under Alexander I, and the latter's younger brother, Andrei, who was architect of the Second Partition of Poland, instigated the assassination of Gustaf III of Sweden on behalf of the court of Saint Petersburg (thereby provoking the Swedish-Russian war won by Russia), and served as extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon and thereby helped shape the future of Europe. Created Sjatelnij Knjaz in 1815, Andrei also became a major patron to Ludwig van Beethoven, who dedicated the 5th and 6th Symphonies as well as the "Razumovsky Quartetts" (Op. 59; 1, 2 and 3) to his supporter.

Kirill Razumovsky's interest in the arts was not confined solely to painting. He initiated the building of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Kiev by I.F. Michurin, and later recruited Vanvitelli's pupil, Antonio Rinaldi, to work in Russia and to build his palace in Baturin, which he had established as the capital of the Hetman State. The Adam style designs of the building were drawn up by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron and Rinaldi supervised the construction of the palace, which Razumovsky used as his principal residence, from 1799 until 1803.

Following Razumovsky's death, the palace in Baturin fell into disrepair. In June 1993 however the Ukranian government declared Baturin a national site of Ukranian history and culture and in August 2002 a government program was approved to restore Baturin to its former glory, including Count Razumovsky's palace.

Please note that the painting has been been requested for an exhibition on Pompeo Batoni to mark the occasion of the tricentenary of the artist's birth, to be held at the Palazzo Ducale, Lucca, from 6 December 2008 - 29 March 2009.

1. See Pompeo Batoni, Prince of Painters in Eighteenth Century Rome, under Literature, reproduced in colour on p. 108, fig. 97.
2. Op. cit., reproduced in colour on p. 110, figs. 98 and 99.
3. Ibid., reproduced in colour on p. 84, fig. 80.