The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Study for "Antiochus and Stratonice"

c. 1746

Pompeo Batoni

(Italian, 1708–1787)
Italy, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 33.3 x 39.5 x 5.4 cm (13 1/8 x 15 9/16 x 2 1/8 in.); Unframed: 24.2 x 30.5 cm (9 1/2 x 12 in.)
Bequest of Jacques de Caso in memory of Alice Cagliostro and Domenick Cagliostro 2008.69
Location: Not on view

Description

Struck by a mysterious illness, Antiochus lies in bed near death. His grieving father, who has recently taken Stratonice as his wife, summons a doctor. Noticing that the sight of the young woman quickens Antiochus’s pulse and that passion causes his sickness, the doctor describes the youth’s predicament to his father, who selflessly offers Stratonice to his son. The subject, both a love story and an example of parental devotion, enjoyed considerable popularity well into the 1800s.
  • Jacques de Caso (Berkeley, California), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008.
  • Bowron, Edgar Peters. Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings. New Haven: Yale University Press in association with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, 2016. Reproduced: P. 93-94, no. 80
  • {{cite web|title=Study for "Antiochus and Stratonice"|url=false|author=Pompeo Batoni|year=c. 1746|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.69