Antique 18th-century Painting From The Roman School Madonna Reading

Roman school, mid-18th century
Circle of Pompeo Batoni (Lucca 1708 – Rome 1787)
Madonna reading
Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 49
Contemporary carved and gilded frame, 75.5 x 63


Refined oil painting on canvas depicting a Madonna in a contemplative pose, captured in the intimacy of sacred reading. The young Virgin, depicted in half-length, gazes sweetly down at the small volume she holds in her hands: a liturgical book, probably symbolising Sapientia, a recurring attribute of the Madonna in sacred art. Her pose is collected and meditative, highlighted by the gesture of her hand touching her chest in a movement of devout introspection.
The work is distinguished by the refined delicacy of the face, modelled by a soft light that enhances its idealised features, in line with the pictorial tradition of 18th-century Roman classicism. The colour scheme, sober but rich in nuances, develops between the pastel tones of the blue mantle and the ochre veil, balanced by the pink robe.
The painting belongs to the circle of Pompeo Batoni, one of the leading exponents of 18th-century Roman academic classicism. The composition, the taste for a smooth rendering of the flesh and the elegance of the hands are reminiscent of the models of grace and composure typical of Batoni's female figures.
Pompeo Batoni was known not only for his official portraits, but also for his sacred subjects imbued with a measured idealism, in which echoes of the Renaissance of Raphael blended with late Baroque balance. In particular, this painting recalls some of his versions of the Annunciation, including those preserved in the Capodimonte Museum and the Louvre, and finds illustrative correspondences with the Virgin Reading in a private collection in Lucca, whose image was highly successful, as evidenced by the versions mentioned in Clark's monograph (1985, replica of unknown location but formerly in a Florentine collection, one in a private Roman collection, both with slight variations compared to the Lucca version and the one under examination).
The work presented here clearly reflects the influence of the master, probably created by an artist working in his workshop or by a painter working in the Roman context who was stylistically close to him. The careful formal attention and classical approach make it a full expression of the devout and cultured sensibility of the period.

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