_Pope_Clement_XIII_by_Anton_Raphael_Mengs_(Museo_del_Settecento_Veneziano).jpg&width=1200)
Portrait of Clement XIII Rezzonico
Anton Raphael Mengs·1758
Historical Context
This third version of the Clement XIII Rezzonico portrait, now in the Museum of 18th-century Venice, is particularly significant given the pope's Venetian origins — the Rezzonico family was one of Venice's most prominent dynasties, and the 18th-century Venice museum's possession of his portrait reflects a clear heritage connection. Carlo Rezzonico became Clement XIII in 1758 and reigned until 1769 during a period of intense pressure on the papacy from secular Bourbon monarchs seeking the suppression of the Jesuits. The Venice museum's portrait likely derives from the authorised Mengs likeness and represents the institutional appropriation of the official portrait type by a Venetian civic institution claiming the pope as a civic son.
Technical Analysis
As with the Bologna and New Orleans versions, careful analysis of paint handling, compositional details, and canvas preparation can determine whether this is an autograph version, a workshop copy, or a later repetition of the official likeness. Mengs's workshop in Rome produced multiple versions of successful portrait compositions.
Look Closer
- ◆The Rezzonico family connection to Venice would have made the pope's personal iconography particularly significant for Venetian institutional collectors claiming him as a local hero.
- ◆Papal vestments in this version should be compared closely with the Bologna and New Orleans versions to assess whether this represents the same sitting or a variant composition.
- ◆The 18th-century Venice museum setting provides a specific interpretive frame — this portrait is read as a document of Venetian cultural production as well as Catholic ecclesiastical history.
- ◆Technical analysis of the ground layer and pigment binding could distinguish between Mengs's own hand, his Roman workshop, and later Venetian copies produced for local institutional use.
