An Apparition
1615–73
Medium
Pen and brown ink, lightly washed
Dimensions
7 3/8 × 5 1/2 in. (18.7 × 13.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.159
Tags
Art Historical Context
Salvator Rosa (1615–1673), a fiery Italian Baroque artist, poet, and satirist, crafted *An Apparition* in pen and brown ink with light wash, a technique that allowed for dynamic lines and subtle tonal effects on this intimate 7⅜ × 5½-inch sheet. Known for his dramatic, untamed style blending Caravaggesque chiaroscuro with romantic wilderness, Rosa often explored mystical and macabre themes, making this ghostly human figure a quintessential example of his fascination with the supernatural. The drawing likely served as a preparatory study or standalone sketch, showcasing Rosa's virtuoso penwork...
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...