Polycrates' Crucifixion

Description

A native of Naples, Salvator Rosa settled in Rome in 1649, producing dramatic works regarded as counterparts to the calm, classical landscapes of his contemporaries Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. Rosa’s landscapes present nature as wild, filled with striking effects of light, jagged cliffs, and dark grottoes. These qualities underline the eerie mood in his depiction of the death of Polycrates, ruler of the Greek island of Samos. Together with its companion piece Polycrates and the Fisherman, it illustrates the king’s inability to escape the ups and downs of fortune to which all humans are subject.

Provenance

Bonaventura Argenti (died 1697), Rome; by descent to Argenti’s heirs, Rome 1697 to 1698 [“Due quardri da Quattro palmi in circa, con due Historie di Policrate cornice dorata di Salvator Rosa, Scudi “Two pictures, each about four palms across, with two histories of Policrates framed in gold by Salvator Rosa, 250 Scudi; Giuseppe Ghezzi, “Quadri delle case de Prencipi in Roma,” 1686–1717, MS. 93, Palazzo Braschi, Rome, c. 283; published by Meroni 1978, p. 89 and de Marchi 1987, pp. 384, 392–93]; consigned for sale to Giuseppe Ghezzi, Rome, about 1698 [see Ghezzi 1686–1717 cited above]. Probably 2nd Earl of Warwick, (Warwick Castle) by 1801 [auction of June 1, 1801 at Christie’s, bought in, see Fredericksen and Zeri 1972]. Schaeffer Galleries, New York, 1942 [see New York 1942, no. 30]. A. F. Mondschein, New York by 1942; sold to the Art Institute, 1942.

Polycrates' Crucifixion

Salvator Rosa

1664

Accession Number

44829

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

73.4 × 98.9 cm (28 7/8 × 38 15/16 in.); Framed: 87 × 112.4 × 7 cm (34 1/4 × 44 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Wentworth Greene Field Memorial Fund