Salvator Rosa, Rocky Landscape, 1650-1659, pen and brown ink, brown wash, over traces of black chalk on paper, 13 in. x 17 1/2 in. (33.02 cm. x 44.45 cm.), The desolate mountain landscape in Salvator Rosa's fantastical drawing makes the human presence appear ephemeral. Rosa contrasts a jagged rock formation in the foreground with diminutive figures further back. They are reduced to mere shadows, dark phantoms amidst the brightly lit boulders and hills. Rosa was known to be confrontational. His biographers described him as a brilliant mind with a volatile temperament. He was one of Italy's most widely read satirical poets as well as a sought-after painter who at one time abandoned a position at the Florentine court in order to achieve fame in Rome as a history painter. This drawing has been identified as the largest sheet within a group of imagined landscapes from the mid-seventeenth century. They relate to a series of dark paintings with forbidding rock formations that are antagonistic to the then dominant classical tradition represented by Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain.
Keywords:
Salvator Rosa, Rocky Landscape, 1650-1659, pen, brown ink, brown wash, traces, black chalk, paper, 13 . x 17 1/2, 33.02 cm. x 44.45 cm., desolate mountain landscape, Salvator Rosa's fantastical drawing makes, human presence, ephemeral. Rosa contrasts, jagged rock formation, foreground, diminutive figures further back., reduced, mere shadows, dark phantoms amidst, brightly lit boulders, hills. Rosa, confrontational., biographers described, brilliant mind, volatile temperament., Italy's, widely read satirical poets, well, - painter, time abandoned, position, Florentine court, order, achieve fame, Rome, history painter., drawing, identified, largest sheet within, group, imagined landscapes, mid-seventeenth century., relate, series, dark paintings, forbidding rock formations, antagonistic, dominant classical tradition represented, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain
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