Alexander in the Studio of Apelles
c. 1662
Medium
etching and drypoint on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 45.5 x 27.5 cm (17 15/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1985.63.1
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic world of 17th-century Baroque art with *Alexander in the Studio of Ap*, an etching and drypoint by Italian master Salvator Rosa, created around 1662. Rosa, a multifaceted artist celebrated for his turbulent landscapes, history scenes, and rebellious spirit, draws from a famous anecdote in ancient Greek history. Alexander the Great enters the studio of his court painter Apelles, the artist at work on a portrait of the beautiful Pancaspe—whom Alexander later gifts to Apelles in admiration of his talent. This print captures the tension and grandeur of artistic patronage, bl...
About the Artist
Salvator Rosa · 1615–1673
Salvator Rosa was born in 1615 in Arenella, on the outskirts of Naples, into a world of artistic ambition and turbulent talent. His early training came through his maternal uncle, the painter Paolo Greco, and his brother-in-law Francesco Fracanzano, himself a pupil of the great Spanish-born Neapolitan master Jusepe de Ribera. Rosa showed a fierce independence from the start, resisting his father's...