Salvator Rosa
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Salvator Rosa (1615 – March 15, 1673) is best known today as an
Italian Baroque painter Italian Baroque art was a very prominent part of the Baroque art in painting, sculpture and other media, made in a period extending from the end of the sixteenth to the mid eighteenth centuries. The movement began in Italy, and despite later curr ...
, whose romanticized landscapes and
history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...
s, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th century. In his lifetime he was among the most famous painters,Jaffé, Hans L. C., editor. 1967. ''20,000 Years of World Painting.'' Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. New York. 418 pp. age 228/ref> known for his flamboyant personality, and regarded as an accomplished poet, satirist, actor, musician, and printmaker, as well. He was active in
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
,
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, where on occasion he was compelled to move between cities, as his caustic satire earned him enemies in the artistic and intellectual circles of the day. As a
history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek mythology, Greek and Roman my ...
, he often selected obscure and esoteric subjects from the Bible, mythology, and the lives of philosophers, that were seldom addressed by other artists. He rarely painted the common religious subjects, unless they allowed a treatment dominated by the landscape element. He also produced battle scenes,
allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
, scenes of witchcraft, and many self portraits. However, he is most highly regarded for his very original landscapes, depicting "sublime" nature: often wild and hostile, at times rendering the people that populated them as marginal in the greater realm of nature. They were prototypes of the romantic landscape and the very antithesis of the "picturesque" classical views of
Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...
. Some critics have noted that his technical skills and craftsmanship as a painter were not always equal to his truly innovative and original visions.Venturi, Lionello and Rosabianca Skira-Venturi. 1952. ''Italian Painting: From Caracaggio to Modigliani.'' Editions D'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, Switzerland. 174 pp. ages 67 & 85 /ref> This is in part due to a large number of canvases he hastily produced in his youth (1630s) in pursuit of financial gain, paintings that Rosa himself came to loathe and distance himself from in his later years, as well as posthumously misattributed paintings.Langelon, Helen, (with Xavier F. Salomon and Caterina Volpi). 2010. ''Salvator Rosa.'' Dulwich Picture Gallery and Kimbell Art Museum in association with Paul Holberton Publishing, London. 240 pp. Many of his peopled landscapes ended up abroad by the 18th century, and he was better known in England and France than most Italian Baroque painters. Rosa has been described as "unorthodox and extravagant", a "perpetual rebel",Wittkower, p. 325 "The Anti- Claude", and a proto- Romantic. He had a great influence on Romanticism, becoming a cult-like figure in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and myths and legends grew around his life, to the point that his real life was scarcely distinguished from the bandits and outsiders that roamed the wild and thundery landscapes he painted. By the mid 19th century however, with the rise of realism and
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
, his work fell from favor and received very little attention. A renewed interest in his paintings emerged in the late 20th century, and although he is not ranked among the very greatest of the Baroque painters by art historians today, he is considered an innovative and significant landscape painter and a progenitor of the romantic movement.Pignatti, Terisio. 1985. ''Five Centuries of Italian Painting 1300-1800: from the collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation.'' Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation. Houston, Texas. 231 pp. ages 153-155


Biography


Early life

Rosa was born in Arenella, at that time in the outskirts of
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, on either June 20 or July 21, 1615. His mother was Giulia Greca Rosa, a member of one of the Greek families of Sicily. His father, Vito Antonio de Rosa, a land surveyor, urged his son to become a lawyer or a priest, and entered him into the convent of the
Somaschi Fathers The Somaschi Fathers, also known as the Somascans and officially as the Order of Clerics Regular of Somasca (), are a Catholic Church, Catholic order of Cleric regular, Clerics Regular of Pontifical Right for men. It was founded in Italy in th ...
. Yet Salvator showed a preference for the arts and secretly worked with his maternal uncle Paolo Greco to learn about painting. He soon transferred himself to the tutelage of his brother-in-law Francesco Fracanzano, a pupil of Ribera, and afterward to either
Aniello Falcone Aniello Falcone or Ancillo Falcone' (15 November 16001656) was an Italian Baroque painter, active in Naples and noted for his painted depictions of battle scenes. Biography Born in Naples to a tradesman, he showed his artistic tendency at an ea ...
, a contemporary of Domenico Gargiulo, or to Ribera. Some sources claim he spent time living with roving bandits. At the age of seventeen, his father died; his mother was destitute with at least five children and Salvator found himself without financial support and the head of a household looking to him for support. He continued apprenticeship with Falcone, helping him complete his battlepiece canvases. In that studio, it is said that Giovanni Lanfranco took notice of his work, and advised him to relocate to Rome, where he stayed from 1634 until 1636. Returning to Naples, he began painting haunting landscapes, overgrown with vegetation, or jagged beaches, mountains, and caves. Rosa was among the first to paint "romantic" landscapes, with a special turn for scenes of
picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...
, often turbulent and rugged scenes peopled with shepherds, brigands, seamen, soldiers. These early landscapes were sold cheaply through private dealers. He returned to Rome in 1638–39, where he was housed by Cardinal Francesco Maria Brancaccio, bishop of Viterbo. For the Chiesa Santa Maria della Morte in Viterbo, Rosa painted the first of his few altarpieces, the ''Incredulity of Thomas''.


Wife and family

In 1640, Rosa met Lucrezia Paolini (–1696) in Florence. Lucrezia was a married woman, whose husband had left the city and abandoned her soon after their marriage, never to return. She served as a model for Rosa on occasion, and was likely the model for the allegory of ''Music'' (). Rosa and Lucrezia soon became dedicated and lifelong companions. Their first son Rosalvo was born in August 1641, probably in
Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...
, and another son, Augusto, was born in 1657. Records show at least four more children were born and placed with foundling hospitals between 1641 and 1657, giving some indication of their poor financial condition in those years. The custom of unmarried couples living together was not uncommon in the early years of the 17th century, but as the decades passed the church grew less and less tolerant of the practice. At times Rosa's prominent reputation and relationships to powerful patrons helped to shield him from the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...
. At other times, the situation left him vulnerable to the many rivals and enemies he made through his satires and ostentatious character. In 1656, feeling pressure in Rome from the poet
Agostino Favoriti Agostino may refer to: * Agostino (name) * ''Agostino'' (film), an Italian film directed by Mauro Bolognini * ''Agostino'' (novel), a short novel by Alberto Moravia Alberto Pincherle (; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990), known by his pseu ...
and his close ally Fabio Chigi, recently elected
Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, and he held various d ...
, Rosa sent Lucrezia and their son Rosalvo to stay in
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
with his family. Soon after she arrived, a severe outbreak of the plague hit Naples, and Rosalvo, Salvator's brother, sister, brother-in-law and their children all died in the epidemic. Lucrezia survived however and returned to Rome alone. The following year their son Augusto was born. Near the end of his life, declining in health and anticipating death, Rosa married Lucrezia on March 4, 1673. On March 17 he died. An inventory of Rosa's house taken in 1673 shortly after his death, indicated the ''Portrait of Lucrezia Paolini'' was hanging in a prominent location in the home, and one of the few paintings in his possession when he died.


Career

While Rosa had a facile genius at painting, he pursued a wide variety of arts: music, poetry, writing,
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...
, and acting. In Rome, he befriended Pietro Testa and
Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...
. During a Roman carnival play he wrote and acted in a masque, in which his character bustled about Rome distributing satirical prescriptions for diseases of the body and more particularly, of the mind. In costume, he inveighed against the farcical comedies acted in the
Trastevere Trastevere () is the 13th of Rome, Italy. It is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within Municipio I. Its name comes from Latin (). Its coat of arms depicts a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which i ...
under the direction of
Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor ...
. While his plays were successful, this activity also gained him powerful enemies among patrons and artists, including Bernini himself, in Rome. Around 1640, he accepted an invitation from Giovanni Carlo de' Medici to relocate to Florence, where he stayed until 1649. Once there, Rosa sponsored a combination of studio and salon of poets, playwrights, and painters—the so-called ''Accademia dei Percossi'' (Academy of the Stricken). To the rigid art milieu of Florence, he introduced his canvases of wild landscapes; while influential, he gathered few true pupils. Another painter poet,
Lorenzo Lippi Lorenzo Lippi (3 May 1606 – 15 April 1665) was an Italian Painting, painter and poet from Florence. Biography Born in Florence, he studied painting under Matteo Rosselli. Both Baldassare Franceschini and Francesco Furini were also apprent ...
, shared with Rosa the hospitality of the cardinal and the same circle of friends. Lippi encouraged him to proceed with the poem ''
Il Malmantile racquistato ''Il Malmantile racquistato'' (Malmantile Recaptured) is an Italian mock-heroic epic poem by Lorenzo Lippi (1606–65) first published posthumously in 1676. Plot The poem is mostly compounded out of a variety of popular tales; its principal su ...
''. He was well acquainted also with Ugo and Giulio Maffei, and was housed with them in
Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...
, where he wrote four satires ''Music'', ''Poetry'', ''Painting'', and ''War''. About the same time he painted ''Philosophy'', now in the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
, London. A passage in one of his satires suggests that he sympathized with the 1647 insurrection led by
Masaniello Tommaso Aniello (29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647), popularly known by the contracted name Masaniello (, ), was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the 1647 revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in the Kingdom of Naples. Name and place ...
—whose portrait he painted, though probably not from life. Rosa's tempestuous art and reputation as a rebel gave rise to a popular legend—recounted in a biography of Rosa published in 1824 by Sydney, Lady Morgan—that Rosa lived with a gang of bandits and participated in the uprising in Naples against Spanish rule.Langdon, Helen (2003). Rosa, Salvator. ''Grove Art Online''. Although these activities cannot be conveniently dovetailed into known dates of his career, in 1846 a famous romantic ballet about this story titled '' Catarina'' was produced in London by the choreographer Jules Perrot and composer Cesare Pugni. He returned to stay in Rome in 1649. Here he increasingly focused on large-scale paintings, tackling themes and stories unusual for seventeenth-century painters. These included ''Democritus amid the Tombs'', ''The Death of Socrates'', ''The Death of Regulus'' (these two are now in England), ''Justice Quitting the Earth'' and the ''Allegory of Fortune''. This last work raised a storm of controversy among religious and civil authorities who perceived in it a satire directed at them. Rosa, endeavouring at conciliation, published a text in which he provided anodyne explanations for the painting's imagery; nonetheless he was nearly arrested. It was about this time that Rosa wrote his satire named ''Babylon''. His criticisms of Roman art culture won him several enemies. An allegation arose that his published satires were not his own, but Rosa vehemently denied the charges. It may be possible that literary friends in Florence and
Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...
coached him about the topic of his satires, while the compositions of which remained nonetheless his own. To confute his detractors he wrote the last of the series, entitled ''Envy''. Among the pictures of his last years were the ''Saul and the Witch of Endor'' and ''Battlepiece'' now in the
Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, the latter painted in 40 days, full of longdrawn carnage, with ships burning in the offing; ''Polycrates and the Fishermen''; and the ''Oath of Catiline'' (
Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...
). While occupied with a series of satirical portraits, to be closed by one of himself, Rosa was assailed by dropsy. He died a half year later. His tomb is in
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs (, ) is a Catholic titular minor basilica and former Carthusian conventual church in Rome, Italy, constructed in the ruined '' frigidarium'' and '' tepidarium'' of the Roman Baths of ...
, where a portrait of him has been set up. Salvator Rosa, after struggles of his early youth, had successfully earned a handsome fortune. He was a significant etcher, with a highly popular and influential series of small prints of soldiers, and a number of larger and very ambitious subjects. Among his pupils were Evangelista Martinotti of Monferrato and his brother Francesco. Another pupil was Ascanio della Penna of Perugia.


Legacy

During Rosa's lifetime his work inspired followers such as Giovanni Ghisolfi, but his most lasting influence was on the later development of romantic and sublime landscape traditions within painting. Eighteenth-century artists influenced by Rosa include Alessandro Magnasco, Andrea Locatelli, Giovanni Paolo Panini and Marco Ricci. As Wittkower states, it is in his landscapes, not his grand historical or religious dramas, that Rosa truly expresses his innovative abilities most graphically. Rosa himself dismissed his early landscapes as frivolous ''capricci'' in comparison to his history paintings and later work, but the academically conventional history canvases often restrained his rebellious streak. He generally avoided the idyllic and pastoral calm country-sides of
Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...
and
Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his Landscape art, landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. ...
in his landscapes, and created brooding, melancholic fantasies, awash in ruins and brigands. By the eighteenth century, the contrasts between Rosa and the "sublime" landscape, and artists such as Claude and the "picturesque" landscape, were much remarked upon. A 1748 poem by James Thompson, "The Castle of Indolence", illustrated this: "Whate'er Lorraine light touched with softening hue/ Or savage Rosa dashed, or learned
Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the Classicism, classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and ...
drew". In a time when artists were often highly constrained by patrons, Rosa had a plucky streak of independence, which celebrated the special role of the artist. "Our wealth must consist in things of the spirit, and in contenting ourselves with sipping, while others gorge themselves in prosperity". He refused to paint on commission or to agree on a price beforehand, and he chose his own subjects. In his own words, he painted "...purely for my own satisfaction. I need to be transported by enthusiasm and I can only employ my brushes when I am in ecstasy."Johnson, Paul. ''Art: A New History'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003, p. 339.


Salvator Rosa and romanticism

Rosa's influence on
romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was profound. Art historians have described him as a "cult figure", who "inaugurated the romantic landscape", an initiator of the "cult" of the sublime landscape. One of the earliest manifestations of the romantic movement to emerge in the early 18th century was the
English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...
, and the paintings of Rosa, as well as
Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...
and
Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...
were key inspirations and models.Tomam, Rolf, editor. 2000. ''Neoclassicism and Romanticism: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Drawings, 1750-1848.'' Könemann, Verlagsgesellschaft. Cologne. 520 pp. age 18
William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...
, who originated the naturalized garden was known to be a great admirer of Rosa and went so far as to plant dead trees in his gardens to achieve Salvator Rosa effects.Bris, Michel Le. 1981. ''Romantics and Romanticism.'' Skira/Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. New York 1981. 215 pp. One historian noted "An extraordinary amount of Rosa's fame and influence in England seems to have rested on verbal and literary transmission, and had an impact that extended far beyond the borderline of purely pictorial concerns."Wallace, Richard. 1979. ''Salvator Rosa in America.'' The Wellesley College Museum. Wellesley, Massachusetts. 124 pp. Library of Congress Catalogue Number 79-84183 In ''
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful ''A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful'' is a 1757 treatise (2nd edition 1759) on aesthetics written by the Anglo-Irish politician Edmund Burke. It was the first complete philosophical exposition for se ...
'' (1757),
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
designated Salvator Rosa as the "painter of the Sublime".
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...
,
Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...
, and
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...
wrote highly of his paintings. "His name came to be a kind of code word for the qualities most appreciated by the romantics.....savage sublimity, terror, grandeur, astonishment, and pleasing horror" A number of accounts of Rosa's life were published purporting to be biographies, often including fictionalized anecdotes.Bernardo de' Dominici. 1742. ''Vita di Rosa.'' Naples.E. T. A. Hoffmann. 1821. ''Signor Formica'' (aka ''Salvator Rosa''), in vol. 4 of Die Serapionsbrüder.Morgan, Lady Sydney. 1824. ''The Life And Times of Salvator Rosa.'' Henry Colburn. London. Salvator Rosa was the subject of an opera by Antônio Carlos Gomes, a ballet '' Catarina or La Fille du Bandit'', and
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
included an arrangement of a song by
Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. He was a rival ...
, in his suite Annees de pelerinage, ''Deuxieme annee: Italie'', (S.161) No. 3, '' Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa''. Rosa and his tempestuous spirit became the darling of British Romantics such as
Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman, and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his successful works depict supernatural experiences, such as '' The Nightmare''. He pr ...
,
John Hamilton Mortimer John Hamilton Mortimer (17 September 1740 – 4 February 1779) was a British figure and landscape painter and printmaker, known for romantic paintings set in Italy, works depicting conversations, and works drawn in the 1770s portraying war s ...
, and Alexander Runciman. His influence can be seen in the work of an artist such as John Martin, who studied Rosa's work in his formative years.Morden, Barbara C. 2010. ''John Martin: Apocalypse Now!.'' Northumbria Press. Newcastle Upon Tyne, U. K. 123 pp. age 5 A recent exhibit of William Turner's work, at the Prado museum in Madrid, notes the influence Rosa had on Turner's landscapes. Rosa's influence can also be seen in American art of the period.
Thomas Cole Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848) was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for hi ...
counted Rosa among his heroes,Powell, Earl A. 1990. ''Thomas Cole.'' Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. New York, NY. 144 pp. age 53 and his impact has been identified in the work of artists such as Washington Allston, George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Moran, William Sidney Mount,
John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756 – November 10, 1843) was an American painter and military officer best known for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Revolut ...
,
Benjamin West Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as ''The Death of Nelson (West painting), The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the ''Treaty of Paris ( ...
and other American artist. Rosa's reputation and influence waned in the nineteenth century; when his ''Monks Fishing'' was displayed in Dulwich in 1843 it was criticized by
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
as telling "unmitigated falsehoods" and containing "laws of nature set at open defiance". Since the 1970s, Rosa's work has received renewed attention from scholars. including museum exhibitions,Kitson, Michael, Helen Langdon, Richard Wallace, John Sunderland. 1973. ''Salvator Rosa: Hayward Gallery.'' London Arts Council. London. 88 pp. ISBN 0728700026 a catalog raisonné,Salerno, Luigi.1975. ''L'opera completa di Salvator Rosa (Classici dell'arte series).'' Rizzoli Editore. Milano. 108 pp. catalogs of his drawings,Mahoney, Michael. 1977. ''Drawings Of Salvator Rosa, Vol. I & II.'' Garland. New York. 869 pp. the publication of his letters,Hoare, Alexandra. 2019. ''The Letters of Salvator Rosa (1615-1673): An Italian Transcription, English Translation and Critical Edition (Studies in Baroque Art).'' Brepols Publishers. 1104 pp. biographical works,Scott, I. Jonathan. 1996. ''Salvator Rosa: His Life and Times.'' Yale University Press. New Haven. 272 pp. and other volumes ranging from paperback picture booksYotova, Raya. 2020. ''Salvator Rosa: Drawings & Paintings (Annotated).'' Independently published. 66 pp. to scholarly monographs.Hoare, Alexandra. 2018. ''Salvator Rosa, Friendship and the Free Artist in Seventeenth-century Italy (Studies in Baroque Art).'' Harvey Miller Publishers. 521 pp.


Satires

Cesareo (1892) and Cartelli (1899) wrote books taking account of Rosa's satires. The satires, though considerably spread abroad during his lifetime, were not published until 1719. They are all in terza rima, written without much literary correctness, but spirited. Rosa here appears as a very severe castigator of all ranks and conditions of men, not sparing the highest, and as a champion of the poor and down-trodden, and of moral virtue and Catholic faith. The satire on ''Music'' exposes the insolence and profligacy of musicians, and the shame of courts and churches in encouraging them. ''Poetry'' dwells on the pedantry, imitativeness, adulation, affectation and indecency of poets—also their poverty, and the neglect with which they were treated; and there is a very vigorous sortie against oppressive governors and aristocrats. Tasso's glory is upheld;
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
is spoken of as obsolete, and
Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...
as corrupting. ''Painting'' inveighs against the pictorial treatment of squalid subjects, such as beggars, against the ignorance and lewdness of painters, and their tricks of trade, and the gross indecorum of painting sprawling half-naked saints of both sexes. ''War'' (which contains a eulogy of
Masaniello Tommaso Aniello (29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647), popularly known by the contracted name Masaniello (, ), was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the 1647 revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in the Kingdom of Naples. Name and place ...
) derides the folly of mercenary soldiers, who fight and perish while kings stay at home; the vile morals of kings and lords, their heresy and unbelief. In ''Babylon'', Rosa represents himself as a fisherman, Tirreno, constantly unlucky in his net-hauls on the Euphrates; he converses with a native of the country, Ergasto. Babylon (Rome) is very severely treated, and Naples much the same. ''Envy'' (the last of the satires, and generally accounted the best) represents Rosa dreaming that, as he is about to inscribe in all modesty his name upon the threshold of the temple of glory, the goddess or fiend of Envy obstructs him, and a long interchange of reciprocal objurgations ensues. Here occurs the highly charged portrait of the chief Roman detractor of Salvator (we are not aware that he has ever been identified by name); and the painter protests that he would never condescend to do any of the lascivious work in painting so shamefully in vogue. Though critical of contemporary art and poetry, Rosa is part of his age in his frequent weighty classical allusions, his lexical freedom, and his liking for ornate rhetorical structures. His poetry also shows a directness and accuracy of expression that drives home the satiric point, often laconically.


Galleries


Paintings

> File:Salvator Rosa - Portrait of a Man - WGA20041.jpg, ''Portrait of a Man'' (1640s), oil on canvas, 78 x 65 cm.,
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
) File:Salvator Rosa - The Witches' Sabbath - BF.1982.7 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg, ''Witches' Sabbath'' (), oil on canvas, 87 x 73 cm.,
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...
File:Salvator Rosa - Heroic Battle - WGA20050.jpg, ''Heroic Battle'' (–1664), oil on canvas, 214 x 351 cm.
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
File:Salvator Rosa - Human Fragility - WGA20047.jpg, '' Human Fragility'' (), oil on canvas, 199 x 134 cm.,
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...
File:Salvator Rosa (Italian) - Allegory of Fortune - Google Art ProjectFXD.jpg, '' Allegory of Fortune'' (1658), oil on canvas, 198 x 133 cm., J. Paul Getty Museum File:Salvator Rosa - Diogenes Casting away his Cup - WGA20045.jpg, ''
Diogenes Diogenes the Cynic, also known as Diogenes of Sinope (c. 413/403–c. 324/321 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy), Cynicism. Renowned for his ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critique ...
Casting Away his Cup'' (1650s), oil on canvas, 219 x 148 cm., private collection File:Rosa Crucifixion of Polyclitus.jpg, ''Crucifixion of Polyclitus'' (1650s), oil on canvas, 108 x 139 cm.,
National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...
File:Demokrit, hensunken i betragtninger.jpg, ''
Democritus Democritus (, ; , ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, Thrace, Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an ...
in Meditation'' (1650–51), oil on canvas, 344 x 214 cm., National Gallery of Denmark File:Rosa - The Death of Regulus, ca. 1650-1652.jpg, ''The Death of Regulus'' (–1652), oil on canvas, 152.4 × 219.71 cm.,
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...
File:Rosa - The Baptism of the Eunuch, ca. 1660.jpg, ''The Baptism of the Eunuch'' (), oil on canvas, 200 x 122 cm., Chrysler Museum of Art File:Salvator Rosa - Pythagoras Emerging from the Underworld - Google Art Project.jpg, ''
Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (;  BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...
Emerging from the Underworld'' (1662), oil on canvas, 131 x 189 cm.,
Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...
File:Salvator Rosa - The Shade of Samuel Appears to Saul - WGA20058.jpg, ''
Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...
and the
Witch of Endor The Witch of Endor (), according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive advice on defeating the Philistines in battle after prior attempts to consult God through sacred lots a ...
'' (1668), oil on canvas, 275 x 191 cm.,
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...


Landscapes

File:Rosa - Il ponte, Palazzo Pitti.jpg, ''Landscape with a Bridge'' (1645–49), oil on canvas, 106 x 127 cm., Galleria Palatina File:Harbour Scene - Nationalmuseum - 17200.tif, ''Harbour Scene'' (undated), oil on canvas, 72 x 94 cm.,
Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum is the List of national galleries, national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the Natio ...
File:Rosa, Saint John the Baptist Baptizing Christ in the Jordan.jpg, ''Saint John the Baptist Baptizing Christ in the Jordan'' () oil on canvas, 173 x 258.7 cm., Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum File:Rosa, Saint John the Baptist Revealing Christ to the Disciples.jpg, ''Saint John the Baptist Revealing Christ to the Disciples'' () oil on canvas, 173.4 x 260.7 cm., Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum File:Bandits on a Rocky Coast MET DP323412.jpg, ''Bandits on a Rocky Coast'' (), oil on canvas, 74.9 x 100 cm.,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
File:Salvator Rosa - River Landscape with Apollo and the Cumean Sibyl - WGA20057.jpg, ''Apollo and the Cumean Sibyl'' (1657–58), oil on canvas, 173.7 x 259.5 cm.,
Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...
File:Salvator rosa, paesaggio con mercurio e il boscaiolo disonesto, 1663 ca (cropped).jpg, ''Mercury and the Dishonest Woodsman'' (ca. 1663), oil on canvas, 125.7 x 202.1 cm.,
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
File:Salvator Rosa, Jacob’s Dream, c. 1665, oil on canvas.jpg, ''Jacob's Dream'' (c. 1665), oil on canvas, 137 x 200 cm., Derbyshire, Chatsworth, Devonshire collection File:Salvator Rosa - The Finding of Moses - 47.92 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg, '' The Finding of Moses'' (1660–65), oil on canvas, 123.2 × 202.6 cm.,
Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...
File:Rosa - Landscape with Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Paul the Hermit, About 1660 - 1665 (cropped).jpg, ''St. Anthony Abbot and St. Paul the Hermit'' (–65), oil on canvas, 67.3 x 49.9 cm.,
National Gallery of Scotland The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfa ...
File:The Death of Empedocles by Salvator Rosa.jpg, ''The Death of
Empedocles Empedocles (; ; , 444–443 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is known best for originating the Cosmogony, cosmogonic theory of the four cla ...
'' (–70), oil on canvas, 135 x 99 cm., private collection File:Landscape with Tobit and the angel mg 0161.jpg, ''
Tobias and the Angel Tobias and the Angel is the traditional title of depictions in art of a passage from the Book of Tobit in which Tobias, son of Tobit, travels with the Archangel Raphael without realising he is an angel (5.5–6) and is then instructed by Raphael ...
'' (), oil on canvas, 121 x 195 cm., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg File:Salvator Rosa - Rocky Landscape with a Huntsman and Warriors - WGA20063.jpg, ''Rocky Landscape with a Huntsman and Warriors'' (), oil on canvas, 142 x 192 cm.,
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...


Drawings

All drawings are undated: pen, ink, and wash; or pen, ink, wash, and chalk on paper File:Turbaned Warrior Holding a Mace MET 1970.101.12.jpg, ''Turbaned Warrior Holding a Mace'' (13.2 x 8.2 cm.),
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
File:Martyrdom of St. Andrew MET DP811520 (cropped).jpg, ''Martyrdom of St. Andrew'' (19.8 x 13.7 cm.),
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
File:ROSA Salvator - Femme debout drapée, portant quelque chose, se dirigeant vers la gauche, INV 9747, Recto (cropped).jpg, ''Woman standing draped'' (25.4 x 14.7 cm.),
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
File:The Abandoned Oidipus (Salvator Rosa) - Nationalmuseum - 23888.tif, ''Oedipus Abandoned'' (65 x 45 cm.),
Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum is the List of national galleries, national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the Natio ...
File:Witches' Sabbath (recto); Figures Gathered around a tree (verso) MET DP812350 (cropped).jpg, ''Witches' Sabbath'' (21.8 x 31.7 cm.),
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
File:'Forest Scene' attributed to Salvator Rosa, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG, ''Forest Scene'',
Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...


Prints

All prints are
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...
s, or etchings with
drypoint Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically iden ...
> File:Battling Tritons LACMA M.88.233.5 (cropped).jpg, ''Battling Tritons'' (1660–61), 11.11 x 16.51 cm. File:Glaucus and Scylla LACMA 56.15.23.jpg, ''Glaucus and Scylla'' (1661), 35.24 x 23.5 cm. File:Three human skulls, study for "Democritus in Meditation" MET DP836195.jpg, ''Three Human Skulls'' (1662), 14.2 × 9.2 cm. File:Salvator rosa, la crocifissione di policrate, 1662 ca.jpg, ''The Crucifixion of Polycrates the Tyrant after his Capture by the Persians'' (1662), 47.3 x 72.2 cm. File:The infant Oedipus is tied to a tree by the shepherd to whom Wellcome L0032548 (cropped).jpg, ''Rescue of the Infant Oedipus'' (1663), 72.4 x 47.2 cm. File:Jason and the Dragon LACMA 56.15.11.jpg, ''Jason and the Dragon'' (1663–64), 33.6 x 21.5 cm.


Works about Rosa

A number of biographies and fictionalizations of the life of Rosa exist: *Domenico Passeri speaks of him in ''Vite de Pittori'' *Salvini, ''Satire e Vita di Salvator Rosa'' * Bernardo de' Dominici, ''Vita di Rosa'' (1742, Naples) *In England, Lady Morgan i
''The Life and Times of Salvator Rosa''
and Albert Cotton in ''A Company of Death'' romanticized his life. *Rosa is the fictional hero of the novella ''Signor Formica'', 1819, also known simply as ''Salvator Rosa'', by E. T. A. Hoffmann. *'' Salvator Rosa'' is a 19th-century Italian opera by Antônio Carlos Gomes, with libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, after the novel ''Masaniello'' by Eugène de Mirecourt. *The 1846 ballet '' Catarina'' by the choreographer Jules Perrot and the composer Cesare Pugni was produced in London at
Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...
, and was inspired by the alleged story of Rosa's dealings with Brigands of the
Abruzzi Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...
. *One of the pieces included in the piano collection '' Années de pèlerinage'' by
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
is entitled "Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa". That song (''Vado ben spesso cangiando loco'') was, however, composed by
Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. He was a rival ...
.


References

* *


External links

* * *
Notes on etchings titled ''The genius of Salvator Rosa''.



Exhibition 2011
Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...
, Fort Worth, Texas * *
Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Salvator Rosa (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa, Salvator 1615 births 1673 deaths 17th-century Neapolitan people 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters Painters from Naples Italian poets Italian male poets Italian Baroque writers Italian printmakers