This meticulously researched catalogue presents an authoritative assessment of t he works of Pompeo Batoni (1708–1787), one of the 18th century’s most celebrat ed painters. Born in Lucca, Batoni established himself in Rome and received comm issions from popes, princes, and British aristocrats on the Grand Tour. Batoni w as highly sought after for his theatrical yet incisive—and often flattering—po rtraits. Connoisseurs and cognoscenti also prized his learned and technically br illiant allegorical, religious, and mythological compositions. With entries on more than 480 paintings and 250 drawings, this magnificent two-volume set pro vides the most complete examination to date of Batoni’s entire oeuvre. Featurin g beautiful, high-quality reproductions, the book provides thorough details on p rovenance and exhibition history as well as biographies of the portrait sitters. New analysis of the works, resulting from decades of research, reinterprets som e of Batoni’s iconography, identifies new textual and visual sources of his ima gery, and reveals insights gleaned from unpublished archival materials.