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Self-portrait (Allegory Silence)
National Gallery, London
As if warning, the artist looks at us over his shoulder with a sad and contemptuous expression. Indeed, the inscription on the tablet he holds in his hands reads: "Be silent, if what you want to say is not better than silence." The harsh meaning of this gloomy self-portrait is further enhanced by the artist's dark cloak and black hat, giving him an almost sinister appearance. It looms menacingly before us against the backdrop of a strange, horizonless sky. Rosa was strongly influenced by the hard realism of Jusepe Ribera, who from 1616 worked in Naples. Salvator Rosa (June 20, 1615–March 15, 1673) was born in the vicinity of Naples, in the village of Arenella. Rosa's father Vito Antonio was a builder or surveyor, his mother Giulia Greco was the daughter of the painter Vito Greco and the sister of the painter Domenico Antonio Greco. Rosa was sent to the Jesuit college of the Somasca congregation in Naples, where he received a good liberal arts education, studying classical literature, logic, rhetoric, and history. From his youth he was fond of music, playing the harp, flute, guitar, composing serenades. Salvatore was actually self-taught, formed in the circle of masters of the Neapolitan school. At first he copied the works of Francesco Fracanzano, whose works were popular with customers and even sent to the Spanish court. Then he studied in the workshop of Aniello Falcone, an excellent draftsman, battle painter.
Salvator Rosa was formed in the Neapolitan environment not only as an artist, but also as a "freethinker". The south of Italy was the birthplace of such outstanding personalities in the history of the country as Giordano Bruno, Tommaso Campanella, Cesare Vanini. These daredevils defended their people, who were oppressed by foreigners, rebelled against the terror of the Inquisition during the Counter-Reformation, which intensified from the second half of the 16th century, and dreamed of the social equality of the people. Rosa's teachers, Agnello Falcone and Francesco Fracanzano, were from among the followers of these "freethinkers", both of them ended up in the ranks of the defenders of Tommaso Agnello, who led the uprising of the lower classes against the nobles (commercial and financial elite of the city) and barons (large landowners). The heroes of Rosa's canvases will be the poor - fishermen, porters, lazzaroni vagabonds, whom he saw hiding from the persecution of the viceroy's troops, and sometimes entering into battle with them and instilling fear in the nobles with their unexpected sorties and robberies.

forest landscape
Once the exhibited paintings of Rosa were noticed by Giovanni Lanfranco, a famous master of monumental baroque painting who worked in Naples. He even bought several of his works. In 1635, Salvator Rosa left his native city and moved to Rome, where his eventful life began. From 1640 to 1649 he lived in Florence, and then for the rest of the time (1649–1673) in Rome.
In Rome, Rosa found a wealthy patron in the person of a certain Girolamo Mercuri, a Neapolitan majordomo of Cardinal Brancacci of Viterbo. The cardinal, noticing the talent of the artist, took him from the house of Mercury. For the residence of the Archbishop of Viterbo, Rosa performed the altar in the church of Saint Sisto.

After leaving Rome for some time, Salvator Rosa nevertheless continued to exhibit his works at the Roman exhibition of members of the Virtuosos of the Pantheon congregation (established in 1543), held annually on August 29, in honor of the Day of St. John the Baptist (San Giovanni Decolato) in the courtyard of the Church of San Bartolomeo dei Padri Bergamaschi. In 1639, Rosa's painting "Titius" won great success at this exhibition. Much later, in the 1650s, Salvator Rosa would once again impress the Roman public on the Day of San Giovanni Decolato. His painting Fortuna (1658-1659) will become a scandalous sensation, for which the artist will be tried by the Inquisition.

"Allegory of Fortune" ca. 1658-59
Getty Museum. Los Angeles Save him from prison only the intervention of Cardinal Chigi. Rose depicted the goddess of Fate distributing coins, precious stones, books from a cornucopia, which go to pigs, a bull, a donkey, sheep, a ram (at her feet lies a palette, therefore, this is an allegory of a bad painter), and by no means worthy people. Fortune, with her face, resembled a public woman, to whom one noble clergyman was attracted. It was a bold allusion to the injustice in distributing honors to people who are unworthy, but who earn success through flattery, deceit, and servility.

Landscapes and poems of Rosa bear an echo of the Neapolitan poetic tradition, they seem a little rude compared to the melodic and sweet style of the Neapolitan poet, a contemporary of Rosa J.B. Marino, who gained fame at European courts, or the landscapes of Nicolas Poussin with their ennobled and ideally calm nature. The imagery of Rosa's poetry is far from the descriptions of the "gardens of bliss" in Marino's lyrics. Also, the artist's landscape painting, in which his rich imagination subtly combines with natural observations, gives rise to a completely different emotional feeling than the landscapes of Poussin's Roman Campagna. This special emotional feeling in the 19th century would be called the "romantic" perception of nature.

Figures of wanderers or warriors among mountain gorges, travelers on the road, fishermen, porters, card players on the coast of the sea evoke associations on the canvases of Salvator Rosa not with literary images, as in the paintings of Claude Lorrain, who loved to place both on the stage, among the wings in the form of trees or architectural buildings, figures of characters from the works of Virgil, Ovid, from the Old Testament. Nature always dominates in Rosa's landscapes - extraordinary and mysterious.

An Angel appears to Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert.
The success of landscapes with customers, apparently, partly weighed on Salvator Rosa. In the satire “Painting”, he wrote sarcastically: “With great amazement ... I reflect that almost every artist loses his talent when he begins to gain success, because he sees how he is honored and the things written by him easily find a place for themselves ... Therefore, he no longer bothers himself with excessive work and, completely lazy, turns into a donkey with pleasure. However, the artist became the creator of genuine masterpieces of landscape painting of the 17th century. One of his most poetic early landscapes is the Old Bridge (c. 1640).

"Landscape with a Broken Bridge" c. 1640.
Oil on canvas 106x127 cm.
Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
In Rome, Salvator Rosa turned to writing battle scenes.

Battle of Christians with Turks. 1650s In his large panoramic compositions, he placed the scene of a furious battle of warriors in the foreground, and the background was mountains, the ruins of temples, towers, palaces. In the satire “War” (1647), the artist expressed his attitude to the uprising: “Look at the high courage with which the fisherman, despicable, barefoot, worm, received so many rights in one day! Look at such a lofty soul in a low one, who, in order to save his homeland… plunged the highest heads into nothing… Haven’t ancient values ​​been updated if today a despicable fisherman gives a model to kings…” Drawings by Salvator Rosa depicting figures of horsemen, fragments of battle scenes have been preserved. The corpus of his drawings is generally not very large, although he is considered a prolific draughtsman among the masters of the Baroque.

Fragment of an engraving from the Rose collection
His drawings stand out such as "The Rider on a Fallen Horse", "Saint George Slaying the Dragon", the engraving "Jason and the Dragon" (made for the canvas of the same name on the plot from Ovid's "Metamorphoses"). And sometimes the images of his drawings are full of lyricism (“Apollo and Daphne”), sharp observation (“Player on the lute under a tree”, “Two figures in a landscape”, “Fisherman”).

Allegory of lies
Two outstanding works by Salvator Rosa were created in Florence - the already mentioned Self-Portrait (circa 1648) and the Allegory of Lies (1640s). They allow us to judge his attitude in the period 1640-1649, difficult relations with the world, full of theatrical props, and not sincerity. Rose often painted his reflection in the mirror. On the canvas "Allegory of Lies" the artist looks older than on the London "Self-Portrait".

"Self-portrait"Oil on canvas, 99 x 79 cm.
Metropolitan Museum. New York. In Florence, the "Portrait of a Man" (1640s) was painted. Apparently, this is also a self-portrait, in which Rosa captured himself in the costume of Pascariello, one of his favorite characters in the commedia dell'arte. Researchers of his work also see similarities with the artist in the image of the ancient mathematician, designer and philosopher Arkita, who is depicted holding a mechanical dove designed by him (“Arkita, philosopher from Tarentum”).
Among the portraits of Salvator Rosa, one should note the "Portrait of a Man" (1640s), which depicts a low-class man, a vagabond or a peasant.

"Portrait of a Man" 1640s
Oil on canvas, 78 x 65 cm.
State Hermitage. St. Petersburg. With his rags and a bandage on his head, he resembles robbers, whose figures the artist liked to introduce into his landscapes (“Robbers in the Cave”). The female character is also convincingly conveyed in the "Portrait of Lucretia", the artist's beloved. Rosa was close to the Florentine Lucrezia until the end of his days, calling her in letters very respectfully “Signora Lucrezia”.

Lucrecia.
During his stay in Florence, and then in Rome, Rosa created works in the genre of the so-called "diableria" or "stregoneria" (from Italian - stregonerie), that is, scenes of witchcraft, devilry.

"Demons and a hermit."

Witches at their Incantations ("The Witches' Sabbath") Appeal to similar subjects depicting witches, witchcraft tools (old books, astronomical instruments, symbol objects) was common in European painting of the 17th century ("Human Frailty", 1657; "Self-Portrait with a Skull , 1656–1675). In the first canvas, a seated woman with a child on her lap is an allegory of motherhood. The child writes on a scroll, but his pen is driven by the hand of death, which is personified by a winged, terrible skeleton.

"The Fragility of Man" Oil on canvas, 199 x 134 cm.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Herma crowned with a wreath of cypress branches (the tree of cemeteries and sorrow), an obelisk (a symbol of memory), a crystal sphere on which a woman sits (a symbol of the fate of life), an owl (a bird of the night), another baby standing in a cradle, lighting the end of the yarn at the tip spinning wheels (a symbol of the frailty of life, already predetermined for the baby in the cradle), two knives (the emblem of violent separation), the inscription on the scroll (“conception is a sin, birth is torment, life is tedious work, death is a fatal inevitability”) from a famous poem, lines which he sent in the canzone to the artist J.B. Ricciardi; Rosa's signature on the blade of a knife (an allegory of separation from an early deceased son) - all this complex set of symbols reveals the deep tragedy of his experiences.

Democritus in Meditation, ca. 1650
Oil on canvas, 344 x 214 cm.
State Museum of Arts. Copenhagen

"Seascape with towers"after 1645
Oil on canvas, 102 x 127 cm.
Palatine Gallery (Palazzo Pitti), Florence.
In Florence, Salvator Rosa continues to create scenes of battles, paints landscapes (Landscape with Mercury and a woodcutter, c. 1650; Landscape with Apollo and the Sibyl Cuma (1650s), Landscape with John the Baptist preaching, 1660s).

John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness.
In the late 1640s and 1650s, classicist tendencies intensified in the work of Salvator Rosa. He tries to master the techniques of "high style" painting, referring to subjects from ancient history and mythology, to biblical themes. However, the rejection of the genre interpretation of staffing is hardly achieved by the artist, so the didactics with which the moral meaning of the plots is presented sometimes looks rude. This applies to such paintings as "The Call of Cincinnatus", "Grove of Philosophers" (Landscape with Three Philosophers),

The philosophers wood "Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness", written before moving to Rome. Appeal to the historical genre, to the style of "high style" contradicted the artist's talent, so he did not always manage to achieve the desired success and recognition along this path.
In 1660, Salvator Rosa moved to Rome.
Increasingly, Salvator Rosa turns to subjects from ancient history and mythology that carry an ethical and moral meaning (The Prodigal Son and Astrea Leaves the Earth, 1660s). The ideas of Stoicism are especially clearly expressed in the latter. The heroes of Rosa's works are Diogenes, the Greek cynic philosopher; St. Paul the Eremite, a hermit, a Christian saint, the first of the hermits of Egypt, who chose a solitary life for the sake of reflection; Democritus, the greatest ancient logician, the forerunner of Aristotle.

Odysseus and Nausicaa

Democritus and Protagoras Rosa is trying to philosophically comprehend history in the canvases "The Death of Atilius Regulus" and "The Conspiracy of Catiline", engravings "Belisarius" and "Laomidont". He turns to the images of the legendary story (“Saul at the sorceress of Endor”), creates his series of etchings “Capriccia” (1656) and, finally, writes his famous canvas “Prometheus”, full of deep thoughts about the retribution for virtue and about the injustice of the world.

Prometheus The painting "The Dream of Aeneas" is closely connected with the Roman theme.

Dream of Aeneas New York. Metropolitan. Philosophical moralizing meaning puts Rose in the canvas of the historical genre "Alexander the Great and Diogenes". A beggar Stoic philosopher who dared to say to the greatest of generals: “Go away and do not obscure the sun for me!” Looks like an eccentric old man who entered into a conversation with a powerful warrior.

"The Prodigal Son" 1651-55
Oil on canvas, 254 x 201 cm.
State Hermitage. St. Petersburg.
The painting The Prodigal Son is one of the artist's masterpieces. In this work, Salvator Rosa appears as one of the most obvious and original heirs of Caravaggism, who during this period were already gradually losing their positions.
In the later years of his life, Salvator Rosa created many drawings. Among them are caricature images of people who have been in his house, romanticized images of himself, influxes of fantasy - a reproduction of figures from the Capricci series, often transferred to paintings. After 1664, Rosa no longer turned to engraving because of his rapidly deteriorating eyesight.
In 1668, at the next exhibition on the day of San Giovanni Decolato, Salvator Rosa exhibited the painting The Spirit of Samuel, summoned to Saul by the sorceress of Endor. The dramatic plot in the canvas of the "high" genre has found a satirical, almost farcical interpretation in the interpretation of the artist.

"The Appearance of the Shadow of the Prophet Samuel to King Saul" 1668
Oil on canvas, 275 x 191 cm.
Louvre. Paris. Salvatore Rosa died on March 15, 1673 in Rome from dropsy. Before his death, the artist married his mistress Lucrezia, with whom he lived for many years and raised two sons.

"Lucretia as poetry" 1640-1641
Oil on canvas 1,040 x 910 cm.
Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum. Hartford A major master of the Italian Baroque, Salvator Rosa, had a significant impact on the development of Italian painting. Under the influence of his art, the talent of Magnasco, Ricci and a number of other masters was formed. The art of Salvatore Rosa also inspired the painters of the romantic era.

"Pythagoras and the fisherman" 1662
Oil on canvas, 132 x 188 cm.
National Museum. Berlin

"Rocky Landscape with a Hunter and a Warrior" c. 1670
Oil on canvas, 142 x 192 cm.
Louvre. Paris

Landscape with Mercury and the Dishonest Woodman

86.

"Heroic battle" 1652-64
Oil on canvas, 214 x 351 cm.
Louvre. Paris

An angel brings St. Peter out

Diogenes throwing away his drinking cup.1651

"Jason bewitches the dragon" Option 2

"Evening Landscape" 1640-43
Oil on canvas, 99 x 151 cm.
Private collection

"River Landscape with Apollo and the Sibyl" c. 1655
Oil on canvas, 174 x 259 cm.
Royal collection. Windsor

"Jason Bewitching the Dragon" ca. 1665-1670
Museum of Fine Arts. Montreal

"Warrior" Oil on canvas
University Gallery, Siena

"Portrait of a Philosopher" Oil on canvas, 119 x 93 cm.
Private collection

"Pythagoras emerges from the underworld" 1662
Kimbel Art Museum, Texas Fort Worth

"Diogenes Casting away his Cup" 1650s
Oil on canvas, 219 x 148 cm.
Private collection

Heraclitus and Democritus

Self-portrait of Salvator Rosa

"Jason bewitches the dragon"

Democritus

Being a master of the 17th century, Salvator Rosa in his work managed to deeply reveal one of the main features of baroque aesthetics - the synthesis of the tragic and the comic. In satires and canvases, he spoke about the picture of the true "theater of life" of his era, made readers and viewers feel the depth of his dramatic gift and its inherent subtle irony in assessing the imperfections of life.
Based on the book by E.D. Fedotova "Salvator Rosa" (series "Masters of Painting. Foreign Artists") http://www.art-catalog.ru/article.php?id_article=568

Salvator Rosa is an Italian painter, engraver, poet and musician.

Born in Renelle, near Naples, on June 20, 1615 (16150620), he was brought up in a monastery and was preparing to take the priesthood, but soon felt an irresistible attraction to art and began to study music first, and then painting. His tutors in the latter were at first his brother-in-law, Fr. Francanzone, a student of X. Ribera, then Ribera himself and, finally, the battle painter Aniello Falcone. In addition to these artists, the development of R.'s talent was greatly facilitated by writing sketches from nature without anyone's help. At eighteen years of age, he set off wandering around Apulia and Calabria, fell into the hands of the robbers there and lived for some time among them, studying their types and customs, after which he worked in Naples.

In 1634 he moved to Rome, where he did not hesitate to gain fame for his depictions of characteristic, full of life scenes from the life of shepherds, soldiers and bandits, but, thanks to his satyrs and, in particular, two paintings: “The transience of human life” and “The goddess of happiness, wasting his gifts to the unworthy,” so revolted Roman society that he had to retire to Naples. When Masaniello's revolution broke out there, he took part in it. From 1650 to 1660 worked in Florence, at the court of the Grand Duke J.-K. Medici, from time to time visiting Rome. Finally, he again settled in this city, where he died on March 15, 1673.

Belonging in the direction of talent to the naturalists of the Neapolitan school of painting, having some affinity with his teachers, Ribera and Falcone, Rosa nevertheless showed, with a great variety in the choice of subjects, a lot of originality in their interpretation. In paintings on historical themes, he was able to combine the realism of the image with the nobility of a lively composition and with a strong expression of an idea. The best of these paintings is considered to be "The Conspiracy of Catiline" (in the gallery of the Pitti Palace, in Florence). Among other works of Rosa in this genus, especially worthy of attention are: “The Angel and Tobias” and “The Appearance of the Shadow of Samuel to Saul” (in the Louvre Museum, in Paris), “Jonah in Nineveh” and “Cadmus and Minerva” (in the Copenhagen Gallery), "Crucifixion" (in the Braunschweig Museum), "Prometheus" (in the Hague Gallery), "Prodigal Son", "Odysseus and Nausicaa" and "Democritus and Protagoras" (in the State Hermitage) and some others.

Rosa's portraits are very characteristic and expressive, which suggests their resemblance to the faces posed in front of him. In those landscapes that came out from under his brush during his stay in Florence, as, for example, in the large seaside view located in the Colonna Gallery in Rome, painting connoisseurs see the influence of Claude Lorrain. In other paintings of this kind, some artificiality and lethargy are noticeable. But Rosa is an excellent, completely original master, imbued with poetry, when she depicts harsh mountains, wild gorges, dense forest thickets, especially when she paints on canvases of small size. There are quite a few of his paintings in which the landscape plays a secondary role, and the main content is made up of human figures - for the most part the figures of soldiers and robbers. Such paintings can be seen in the Imperial Hermitage ("Soldiers playing dice"), in Vienna, Munich, The Hague and other galleries. Finally, Rosa painted very complex pictures of battles beautifully, of which there is a wonderful example in the Louvre Museum, in Paris. Regarding the color of R., I must say that he is generally not distinguished by great brilliance, but is extremely pleasant in its warmth and in the consistency of chiaroscuro.

In the last years of his life, Rosa diligently engaged in engraving. In total, he executed 86 etchings of his own composition, many of which can be ranked among the best creations of the artist and in good prints are very much appreciated by lovers of prints, such, for example, “St. Wilhelm the Hermit", "Plato and His Disciples", "The Warrior Sitting on the Hill", etc.

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Salvator Rosa(1615-1673) - Italian painter, engraver and poet, a forerunner of romantic painting. He worked in Naples, Florence and Rome.

Rosa's work, imbued with elements of a kind of romantic protest against existing social norms, opposed the academic trend in the Italian Baroque. Paintings and etchings by Salvatore Rosa - a religious and mythological composition (“Astrea Says Goodbye to the Peasants”, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), as well as scenes of cavalry battles and views of wild coastal areas that made him famous - are distinguished by sharp light and shade contrasts; Rosa's painting is characterized by a free manner of writing, a gloomy, brownish-lead color.
Born in Renelle, near Naples, on June 20, 1615, he was brought up in a monastery and was preparing to take holy orders, but soon felt an irresistible attraction to art and began to study music first, and then painting. His tutors in the latter were at first his brother-in-law, Fr. Francanzone, a student of X. Ribera, then Ribera himself and, finally, the battle painter Agnello Falcone. In addition to these artists, the development of R.'s talent was greatly facilitated by writing sketches from nature without anyone's help. At eighteen years of age, he set off wandering around Apulia and Calabria, fell into the hands of the robbers there and lived for some time among them, studying their types and customs, after which he worked in Naples.

In 1634 he moved to Rome, where he did not hesitate to gain fame for his depictions of characteristic, full of life scenes from the life of shepherds, soldiers and bandits, but, thanks to his satyrs and, in particular, two paintings: “The transience of human life” and “The goddess of happiness, wasting his gifts to the unworthy,” so revolted Roman society that he had to retire to Naples. When Masaniello's revolution broke out there, he took part in it. From 1650 to 1660 worked in Florence, at the court of the Grand Duke J.-K. Medici, from time to time visiting Rome. Finally, he again settled in this city, where he died on March 15, 1673.
The influence of Salvator Rosa on contemporary Italian art is very significant. He had many followers. The tradition of the romantic landscape of Salvator Rosa was continued in the work of M. Ricci and A. Magnasco. Then, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the influence of S. Rosa went beyond Italy. Artists of the romantic era saw in him their predecessor, enthusiastically perceiving not only painting, but also the personality of Rosa. In the 20th century, the art of S. Rosa was understood in all its complexity and inconsistency, which makes up the originality of the creative path of this outstanding master.

According to materials: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia of World Art - Vilnius, UAB "Bestiary", 2008, Great Illustrated Encyclopedia "Masters of World Painting" St. Petersburg, OOO "SZKEO", 2011, Information portal Art Planet Small Bay - Museum of Art and History, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907), 82 vols. and 4 additional tt. - M.: Terra, 2001. - 40,726 pages, "Popular Art Encyclopedia." Ed. Field V.M.; M .: Publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1986. Dolgopolov IV Masters and masterpieces: In 3 volumes. - M: Visual Arts 1987. - T. 3.

In accordance with Article 1282 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the works of this author have passed into the public domain

Salvatore Rosa. self-portrait

The biography of the Italian artist Salvatore Rosa is very unusual. It seemed that fate had specially prepared for him unexpected adventures and endowed him with the character of a rebel, and this, in turn, could not but affect his creative activity. He did not immediately become interested in painting, he was looking for himself in the spiritual, in music and acting. Rosa was born in Italy on June 20, 1615, at a time when progressive Baroque was developing in art and an intense struggle was being waged against mannerism.

The poor family of the future artist lived near Naples. His father, Antonio Vito de Rosa, was a simple land surveyor, and in order for the boy to receive a good education, he gave his son to the college of the Jesuit congregation Somasca between the cities of Bergamo and Milan. Being in the walls of the monastic Order, the boy Salvatoriello, accustomed to entertainment and games in the fresh air, felt uncomfortable and bored. However, the knowledge that he received from spiritual mentors was useful to him in his future work. Among the subjects studied by Rosa were: Italian literature, Holy Scripture, the history of Antiquity and rebellious Latin. The college became Father Salvatore's only hope to give his son a good education and pull him out of poverty.

The desire to receive a spiritual dignity grew into a cherished dream to connect his life with art. Therefore, Rosa began to take music lessons, and only after - painting. The first teachers of the young man were Francanzone, his brother-in-law, and the great Ribera. In addition to the lessons, Salvatore developed his talent by writing small sketches on his own.
The painting of the young artist was distinguished by the realism and naturalness of not only the plots, but also the colors. His palette was dominated by ocher browns and muted tones. The characters had moods and facial expressions that were understandable to the layman, without embellishment and grotesque. Even his self-portrait (1640), the master depicted "modestly" and "understandably", following the direction of the Neapolitan school of painting.

As you know, Salvatore Rosa was a rebel and had a wayward character. The temperament of his nature set the tone for his works. Especially the artist succeeded in painting battles, stories with vagabonds and bandits. Moreover, both the early and late works of the painter had a lead-red touch of ocher and the Caravagja technique of applying contrasting shades - the play of shadows and light (“Jason pacifying the dragon”, “The Choice of Diogenes”, “Alexander and Diogenes”).

Jason subduing the dragon. 1665-70

Choice of Diogenes. 1650

In 1636, the artist decides to become an actor, just at the time when all of Rome already knows about Salvatore as a talented artist. And here he succeeded. He opened his face during the performance, tearing off the mask of Coviello, whom he played, and later founded his own theater near the port del Popolo. As a constant fighter with the existing authorities, Rosa was harassed and became the object of surveillance by assassins scurrying around the theater. During this period, he wrote the famous painting “Allegory of Lies”, illustrating his own versification “I remove my blush and paint from my face.” The picture is painted in unusual dry colors with a "patina" of emerald paint.

Allegory of lies. 1640

A talented painter, poet and actor - Salvatore - had many friends in the world of art and literature. In the works, diaries and letters of travelers, the name of the great artist is often mentioned. Fueled by her own restless nature and good company, Rosa creates stories on various topics - diverse, different from each other. These are mythical and biblical subjects, landscapes (“Forest landscape with three philosophers”) and portraits. The technique in which he writes is not bright, but it gives peace and sets the right mood for the viewer.

Forest landscape with three philosophers.

To create romantic stories, Rosa pushed, among other things, love for a woman. His lover for many years was Lucrezia, who gave the artist two sons. Only before his death, Salvatore married a woman, thereby fulfilling his duty on earth, giving continuation to the family and himself in his canvases.

Death overtook the master in March 1673 in Rome. The work of Salvatore Rosa has become a school for future, no less eminent, artists.

Rosa Salvatore (1615-1673)
Italian painter, graphic artist, poet and musician. Born in the small town of Arnella near Naples in the family of a surveyor. From childhood, he was sent to be raised in the college of the Jesuit congregation of Somaska. The study of Latin, Holy Scripture, Italian literature, ancient history at the Jesuit College helped Salvatore Rosa in the future, when he became a painter. He studied painting with his brother-in-law, the artist F. Fracanziano, and also with his uncle, the artist A. D. Greco, possibly attended the workshop of J. Ribera, was familiar with the famous Neapolitan battle painter A. Falcone, one of the early masters of this genre.

Choice of Diogenes, 1650s
Private collection

Jason subduing the dragon, 1640s
Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal

self-portrait
National Gallery, London

As if warning, the artist looks at us over his shoulder with a sad and contemptuous expression. Indeed, the inscription on the tablet he holds in his hands reads: "Be silent, if what you want to say is not better than silence." The harsh meaning of this gloomy self-portrait is further enhanced by the artist's dark cloak and black hat, giving him an almost sinister appearance. It looms menacingly before us against the backdrop of a strange, horizonless sky. Rosa was strongly influenced by the hard realism of Jusepe Ribera, who from 1616 worked in Naples. The famous "frantic manner" of Rosa himself manifested itself even in his poetic landscapes. It was this quality that became especially important for romantic landscape painters of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Rose was not only a painter, but also a graphic artist, poet, musician and actor.

The work of this talented painter is associated with the traditions of the Neapolitan school. The name Salvatore Rosa is surrounded by legends, as he was distinguished by a rebellious disposition, courage, and a great picturesque temperament. He was not only a painter and engraver, but also a poet, musician, actor, and the passion of his nature was manifested in everything. The artist's picturesque talent was realized in landscapes, portraits, battle scenes, canvases of the historical genre.

He worked in Naples (until 1635), Rome and Florence (1640-1648) as a court painter for Giovanni Carlo Medici, the future cardinal. An exponent of pre-romantic trends in Italian Baroque painting, Rose in paintings on biblical and mythological themes (“The Prodigal Son”, State Hermitage Museum, St. skirmishes (“Combat Fight”, pen drawing, Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig), “stormy” landscapes with views of wild, sometimes fantastic areas (“Forest landscape with three philosophers”, Art Gallery, Dresden; “Landscape with a bridge”, Pitti Gallery , Florence) sings of the flight of man to the bosom of nature, opposes the generally accepted norms of academic art of the 17th century. The expressive and gloomy atmosphere of Rosa's works is created with the help of sharp light and shade contrasts, a free manner of writing, a gloomy, brownish-lead color.

By the time of his stay in Florence is "Self-Portrait" (London, National Gallery). Rose is depicted wearing a cloak draped over her shoulder. The romanticization of the image is emphasized by a somewhat theatrical attire, but the artist managed to convey the passion of nature, its vulnerability, the irony that shines through in his eyes. The Latin inscription on the portrait: "Be silent if what you want to say is no better than silence" - expresses the state of the artist, who apparently experienced deep disappointment from contact with injustice. The theme of “Self-portrait” is continued by the painting “Allegory of Lies” (Florence, Pitti). It is possible that Rosa himself served as a model for the image of a person who removed the tragic mask and points to it.

This is an example of an allegory that has a deep moral connotation, which expresses thoughts about the artist's work, his position in society. It is possible that Rosa depicted himself in the painting “Portrait of a Bandit” (St. Petersburg, Hermitage), which is a work that is mentioned in the sources of the 17th century. The image of this man is full of liveliness and wit, and the clothes resemble the costume of Pascariello, the mask hero of the commedia dell'arte.

In 1649, Salvatore Rosa moved to Rome, seeking to free himself from court service. He refuses offers to work at the courts of Austria, Sweden and France. With witty satires, the artist irritates those on whom rich orders depend. His canvas “Fortune” (London, Marlborough Gallery), depicting animals in the images of which influential people recognized themselves, almost brought wrath to the artist of the pope himself.

The circle of ill-wishers of Salvatore Rosa has increased, which is fully evidenced by the satirical painting of the artist “Envy”. After a quarrel with the venerable Lorenzo Bernini and other famous painters, the artist, despite his fame, was refused admission to the Roman Academy of St. Luke. In this regard, Salvatore Rosa founded the Academy of the Bruised (Academia degli percossi). Well-known artists, poets, musicians, scientists became its members and frequent guests of the Rose. Among them were the mathematician Torricelli, the composer Honor, the philologists Carlo Dati and Valerio Chimentelli.

Antique history and mythology still allows the artist Salvatore Rosa to put forward ethical problems that concern him in his works. In the canvas “Democritus and Protagoras” (St. Petersburg, Hermitage), the Rose tells about the wisdom of a simple man who struck a great philosopher who made him his student. In the painting “Odysseus and Nausicaa” (ibid.), it is about the nobility of the act of the ancient princess who helped the shipwrecked Odysseus. The ideal image of a fighter for republican virtues is embodied by the artist in the canvas “The Conspiracy of Catiline” (Florence, private collection), and in the painting “Saul at the Witch of Endor” (Paris, Louvre), the biblical story is intended not without a grotesque, on the contrary, to debunk lofty ideas about a bad ruler .

In the 1660s, Rosa copied his paintings in engraving, sometimes creating independent historical and allegorical compositions (the allegory “The Genius of Salvator Rosa”). Back in 1656, the artist became interested in the technique of etching and performed the Capricci series. As in his paintings, her heroes are vagabonds, soldiers, bandits, shepherds. They are depicted either in real situations or in theatrical poses and look either as life-like characters or as actors from costumed scenes. They especially clearly show Rosa's inherent fantasy and ability to figuratively synthesize everything that struck his imagination in reality.

Salvatore Rosa died on March 15, 1673 in Rome from dropsy. Before his death, the artist married his mistress Lucrezia, with whom he lived for many years and raised two sons. The great master of the Italian Baroque, Salvator Rosa, had a significant influence on the development of Italian painting. Under the influence of his art, the talent of Magnasco, Ricci and a number of other masters was formed. The art of Salvatore Rosa also inspired the painters of the romantic era.