Terms and conditions of use
Gaetano II Sforza Cesarini, Duke of Segni
1768
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1962
- Gallery location
- 17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Gaetano II Sforza Cesarini was a prominent Papal politician in the 1750s and 1760s. Besides glorifying his stature, his rotated pose also enabled painter Pompeo Batoni to show off large quantities of the green velvet and silk from his sitter’s coat. Softly illuminated against the dark background, the sitter’s hands and face stand out with their bright, fleshy tones. His bent right elbow was a motif often referred to in aesthetic treatises as signifying masculine energy and strength. Later eighteenth-century painters such as Joshua Reynolds frequently ‘quoted’ such poses in a critical context by also using them for female subjects.
Artwork Details
inscribed in black paint (inverted) (diagonally) c.r.: A Sua Eccelenza. / il (...illeg.) Duca Sforza Cesarini / Roma (Roma underlined)
Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1962
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Level 2, NGV International