Frontispiece from the 'Figurine' series
Sorry, no image available.
- Medium
- etching engraving
- Credit line
- Bequest of David Murray 1908
- Accession number
- 084G2224
- Media category
- Collection area
- European prints
-
WALL LABEL: A Beautiful Line: Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi, 2012
Salvator Rosa was a painter, printmaker and draughtsman who was also a gifted poet, satirist, actor and musician. Born in Naples, Rosa moved to Rome in 1635 at the age of twenty. Although known primarily for his landscape paintings, Rosa sought recognition as a history painter. To this end he turned to printmaking.
Rosa’s lively drawing Standing figure holding sword in right hand and left arm outstretched is a study for one of the soldiers in the Figurine series. In the sketch, Rosa rapidly described the stance of the soldier in red chalk, before working it up in pen and ink. In the etching, Rosa resolved to follow the fainter lines of his drawing.
Maria Zagala, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs