The American painter Benjamin West wrote that the Italian artists he met in Rome in the 1760s "thought of nothing, looked at nothing, but the work of Pompeo Batoni." Batoni based his dramatic style on classical sculpture and on the art of Renaissance masters such as Raphael. His rich color, close attention to detail, and strictly controlled compositions influenced painters throughout Europe. This is a rare religious painting by the artist, whose portraits of popes, kings, and British aristocrats on the "Grand Tour" made him the most successful artist in Rome.

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