Portrait of Joseph Henry of Straffan

Batoni was the most sought after portrait painter in 18th-century Rome. Visitors, especially young British men on their Grand Tour of the Continent, wanted to have him paint their portraits. In this example, the young Irishman, Joseph Henry (1727-1797) from County Kildare is leaning on the base of a pillar (suggestive of palatial surroundings), which in its simplicity is characteristic of the neoclassical taste of the period. His relaxed pose, open velvet jacket, and book suggest the casual elegance of a well-read gentleman.

Henry was the son of the Dublin merchant and banker, Hugh Henry. His mother, Anne Leeson, was the sister of Joseph, 1st Earl of Milltown. In 1743 Henry inherited a large estate, called Straffan, in County Kildare, the house still stands. Several caricatures are known of him, dating from the time of his travels in Italy, by both Pier Leone Ghezzi and Joshua Reynolds. Reynold's painted group caricature "Parody of Raphael's 'School of Athens,'" was commissioned by Henry and is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. Henry himself is included in this scene.

For more information on this portrait, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 416, pp. 527-528.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 771, as school of Charles Le Brun]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.