Portrait of Sir Henry Peirse

Portrait of Henry Peirse is an oil painting on canvas completed c. 1775 by the Italian painter Pompeo Batoni and housed in the Pinacoteca of the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica (Palazzo Barberini) in Rome.

The work derives from the collection of Sir Henry de la Poer Beresford Peirse, a descendant of the depicted gentleman.

Behind Peirse, to the right is the statue of the Ludovisi Ares and to the left, a large decorative urn.

Batoni profited from painting a number of such portraits with similar elements for other travelers, including a Portrait of John Chetwynd-Talbot (1773) on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The style of Batoni's work reflects a transition from the decorative and dramatic Baroque to a more serene Neoclassicism, literally quoting from Ancient Classic sculpture.

Portrait of John Chetwynd-Talbot