Portrait of Pope Pius VI, Giovanni Angelo Braschi (1717-1799)

This earlier 1775 portrait of Pope Pius VI at the National Gallery of Ireland predates the Warsaw Royal Castle version by five years and shows the pope at the beginning of his extraordinarily long and eventful pontificate (1775–1799). Pius VI was unusual among eighteenth-century popes for the span and drama of his reign: he watched the French Revolution unfold, faced Napoleon's armies, was taken prisoner, and died in French captivity in Valence. Batoni's 1775 portrait — painted in the first year of Pius's pontificate — captures none of this future suffering, presenting instead the confident image of a pope at the start of what appeared to be a conventional reign. The National Gallery of Ireland's acquisition reflects the Irish Catholic community's engagement with Rome and papal imagery.

Oil on canvas in the established formal vocabulary of papal portraiture. The 1775 date means this is among the earliest formal portraits of the new pope — Batoni's studio would have been an obvious first choice for such a commission. White cassock, red mozzetta, and papal throne create the standard setting; the face receives individual characterization within the formal constraints.