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Pompeo Girolamo Batoni

Time Unveiling Truth

1740–45
Oil on canvas
43.3 × 26.5 cm (17 × 10.4 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni crafted a complex mythological scene in this small-scale work, most likely a preparatory sketch for a larger, unexecuted or unknown painting. Father Time pulls aside a large swath of drapery to reveal Truth at the center of the composition, radiating revelatory light from the sun. The figures of Envy, winged and wearing a mask, and Discord, with a writhing tail, lurk in the shadow to the right. Beside Truth stands Justice, holding the pair of scales that signals her impartiality. Last, in the lower right, the personifications of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture hold the tools of their trades.

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