Grigorii Rosselli
(1578 - 1650) |
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Landscape, Secular Narratives, Historical Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Grigorii Rosselli |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Florence |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1578 |
| Death: |
1650 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Landscape, Secular Narratives, Historical Narratives |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Romanticism |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
Poet
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Biography
| Considered the first true Romantic artist, Salvator Rosa stood apart and ahead of his time. Spurning convention, obsessed with genius, enthralled by the irrational and mystical, he became, not surprisingly, a genuine hero to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Romantics. A diverse and multifaceted talent, Rosa acted in plays; composed music, satires, and poetry; and injected these experiences into a diverse visual repertoire that included violent battles, scenes of witchcraft, as well as hermits amid wild landscapes. Rosa also developed his own visual allegories that meditated in highly personal ways on such themes as moral philosophy and human vanity. Born in Naples, Rosa first trained with his uncle Domenico Greco, then with his brother-in-law Francesco Francanzano, and probably with Aniello Falcone.* Strongly influenced by Castiglione* and Ribera,* Rosa was a precocious and virtuoso student whose intensive studies of his native landscape demonstrated a precocious predilection for nature for an Italian artist. Although his earliest surviving dated painting is a Battle Scene (dated 1637, London, William Mostyn-Owen, Esq.) done two years after his first trip to Rome in 1635, the picture's maturity suggests that many antecedents were painted while Rosa developed in Naples. Evocative landscapes derived from the surrounding terrain (for example, Landscape with a Natural Arch, signed, Florence, Palazzo Pitti) show Rosa's emerging fascination with natural scenery, while the Battle Scene was no doubt inspired by Aniello Falcone's example. In Rome, Rosa associated with the Bamboccianti, the Dutch specialists of peasant and low-life scenes, and was particularly inspired by Pieter van Laer.* Through Cardinal Brancacci of Viterbo he also obtained some religious commissions in 1636, notably the Doubting Thomas for the church of S. M della Morte (now Viterbo Museum). An illness in 1636 forced Rosa back to Naples but by 1639 he had left Naples permanently. In Rome his show at the Pantheon was successful; he brilliantly played the character Coviello in a Commedia deU'Arte production, but his own improvised satire against Bernini evidently went too far. Bernini reportedly reacted so vehemently that Rosa was undoubtedly happy to accept Prince Gian Carlo de' Medici's invitation of 1640 to join the Florentine court. Received like a celebrity, he was left free to paint whatever and for whomever he pleased. Several remarkable experiments in classical landscapes inspired by Poussin* date from 1640, including the ones executed between July and September for the Duke of Modena: Seascape and Hermione Carving the Name of Tancredi (Modena, Galleria Estense). In Florence for the next nine years, Rosa was the center of a glittering intellectual circle. He formed the Accademia dei Precossi, which produced dramas. Working simultaneously in a harmonious and classical vein in works such as The Philosopher's Forest (Florence, Palazzo Pitti), and in a deliberately ugly, disturbing vein in paintings such as Sorcery (Florence, Corsini Gallery), Rosa seemed determined to push his art to extremes, proving his talent through diversity. At the height of his Florentine success Rosa returned to Rome, arriving there in 1649. Much of the better work from this period is considered a reworking of the style he learned in Naples -battle scenes in the tradition of Aniello Falcone, now set in even more evocative, turbulent landscapes. These were sometimes inflated to epic proportions as seen in the Battaglia Corsini (Paris, Louvre). Diverse erudite themes such as his Democritus (Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst) and his Humana Fragilitas (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum) were personal, poetic commentaries on human achievement and life as well as his attempt to stake a claim as the premier history painter of his day. His landscapes matured into the craggy, stormy, desolate images that would be so admired by the Romantics. His rustic subjects remained popular with many of the patrons of the Bamboccianti, including the Corsini and Sal via ti families. Refusing invitations to the courts of Sweden (1652) and France (1665), Rosa preferred his independence in Rome. His most loyal supporter was Carlo de' Rossi, who (until the two quarreled in 1667) assembled what amounts to a Rosa museum. Five years later, Rosa, perhaps stung by his failure to live up to his aspirations, fell ill and died. His influence on Magnasco and Marco Ricci helped shape the direction of eighteenth- as well as nineteenth-century landscapes. |
Samples of Work
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