Salvator Rosa

Selected work

From the studio

5 works, from the studio to here.

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  Diogenes and His Cup

  Diogenes and His Cup

  Salvator Rosa · etching · 1662

  Diogenes was an ancient Greek philosopher who valued poverty and shunned worldly goods, to the extent that he discarded his drinking bowl when he observed a youth drinking water from cupped hands, as depicted here. The print was made by the eccentric Neapolitan artist Salvator Rosa, who rejected conventional patronage in order to focus on themes that interested him. The placement of the narrative within a lush landscape is typical of Rosa’s approach, as is the emphasis on the unconventional principles of his subject, with which he identified. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

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  Jason and the Dragon

  Jason and the Dragon

  Salvator Rosa · etching · 1658

  Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece required him to bypass a fearsome dragon, which he was able to do with a sleeping potion given to him by the witch Medea. Salvatore Rosa selected classical narratives to prove he was a great and learned painter of histories, and he showcased the novelty of being among the first 16th- or 17th-century artists to portray this particular story. Rosa turned the ancient epic into a moody struggle by transmitting the mystery and magic of his earlier witchcraft imagery. Utilizing the energetic and spontaneous qualities of his draftsmanship, the violence of Jason's feat is emphasized by a claustrophobic and savage environment of crags and "blasted" trees that frames the dynamic diagonals of the hero and recoiling dragon. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

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  Glaucus and Scylla

  Glaucus and Scylla

  Salvator Rosa · etching · 1656

  Salvatore Rosa was a prolific and skilled printmaker, producing more than 100 etchings throughout his career. Derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Glaucus and Scylla tells a story associated with magic and witchcraft. After drinking a magical herb, the fisherman Glaucus was immortalized and transformed into a sea god with fins and a fish tail. Rosa depicts the moment in which the amorous Glaucus declares his love to the beautiful water nymph, Scylla, who flees. Later, Glacus implored the witch Circe to help him win the heart of Scylla, but attracted to the sea god herself, the jealous witch poisoned the waters where Scylla lived, turning the nymph into the infamous rock that troubled Ulysses and countless sea travelers. The ominous, rolling clouds and Glaucus's thrashing form project the drama of Scylla's escape and foreshadow her own metamorphosis to come. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

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  Scenes of Witchcraft: Evening

  Scenes of Witchcraft: Evening

  Salvator Rosa · oil on canvas · 1640

  At dusk, Rosa's hags gather around a cauldron. Above their incantations soars a conjured skeleton holding an hourglass symbolizing the brevity of life. In its left hand, the demonic creature holds a capital letter A from which extends a plumb line; as ancient signs of the moon and judgment, this strange combination of symbols embodies the nocturnal judgment the witches are doling out below. Though more rare in paint, the detailed portrayal of witches at their spells enjoyed a long literary tradition. The wax effigy alludes to classical literature by Virgil and Horace that described love magic. Poets in the 1500s and 1600s continued the tradition, writing verse about witches concocting potions and performing love spells. In Rosa's own poem "La Strega (The Witch)," the jilted Phyllis vows to take revenge on her feeble lover, listing the ingredients for her black magic: "ground powders, mystic gems, snakes and owls, stinking blood. . . ." Painting was considered "mute poetry" in the 1600s, and Rosa often explored the same themes in his written and painted art—a clever way to gain fame as a unique intellect. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

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  Scenes of Witchcraft: Night

  Scenes of Witchcraft: Night

  Salvator Rosa · oil on canvas · 1640

  In the pitch black of night, two groups of men are gathered in a forest. To the left, travelers apprehensively pause to watch a magician conjure terrifying apparitions. Since the Middle Ages, necromancy, the act of communing with the dead, was associated with male sorcerers. In Rosa's painting, the wizened necromancer who stands tall and resolute directly below a classical column is reminiscent of Moses, a predecessor to Renaissance depictions of sorcerers. Rosa's learned magicians not only invoke associations with philosophers and intellects, but they would have also referred to the artist himself and the intellectual elite with whom he associated in Florence. Just as a powerful magician could conjure strange creatures with his wand, so too could Rosa shape a strange world with his originality, intelligence, and the skillful use of paint and brush. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

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