A Perfect Likeness

Hood acquires Batoni portrait of Dartmouth namesake

Dartmouth has acquired a celebrated portrait of its great benefactor, William Legge, the second Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801), after whom the College was named. The three-quarter-length portrait in oil on canvas, completed in 1756, represents the sitter leaning to one side on a pedestal situated in a portico-like setting. The painting was purchased by the Hood Museum of Art at Sotheby's London auction on June 6, with funds generously given by Jane Dance and David Dance '40, Tuck '41; Jonathan L. Cohen '60, Tuck '61; Frederick Whittemore '53, Tuck '54; Barbara Dau Southwell '78 and David Southwell, Tuck '88; Raphael Bernstein (Dartmouth parent); and an anonymous donor.

Batoni was an acclaimed portrait painter in Rome who created iconic images of late-18th-century British travelers. William Legge, like many aristocratic Englishmen of his era, deferred the start of his professional and political career for the opportunity to broaden himself through travel and the acquisition of foreign languages on the European Grand Tour. His correspondence indicates that during his travels through the continent from 1751 to 1754 he absorbed lessons from antiquity through the writings of classical authors on Roman history, visited sites where important events had transpired, and studied and collected sculpture and other artifacts.

Batoni's portrait of Lord Dartmouth, who succeeded his grandfather to the title in 1750, was first owned by the sitter's mother, Elizabeth Kaye, Countess of Guilford, and has remained in her family since it was painted. The portrait was begun during Lord Dartmouth's sojourn in Rome in 1753 when he was accompanied on the trip by his stepbrother, Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, (1732-1792), later prime minister during the period of the American Revolution. After traveling through Germany and northern Italy they reached Rome in January 1753, where they stayed in the Casa Guarnieri. Soon afterwards both were painted by Batoni, whose portraits in oil were preceded by miniatures (now lost) dated the same year. The painting of Lord Dartmouth was completed three years later (1756) and shipped to England. It is one of the finest portraits of the benefactor who would later become the principal supporter of Eleazar Wheelock's Indian Charity School. In 1766, Lord Dartmouth met Samson Occom, who had been the first Native American student at Wheelock's school in Connecticut and had been sent to England to raise funds. Lord Dartmouth became president of the Board of Trade in 1765 and secretary of state for the colonies in 1772. He became Lord Privy Seal in 1775 and finally left Lord North's government in 1782, after a brief period as Lord Steward of the Household.

By SHARON REED

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