Jason and the Dragon
ca. 1663–64
Medium
Etching and drypoint
Dimensions
sheet: 13 7/16 x 8 1/2 in. (34.1 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.17-86
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *Jason and the Dragon*, a captivating etching and drypoint by the Italian Baroque master Salvator Rosa, created around 1663–64. Rosa, a flamboyant 17th-century artist from Naples renowned for his dramatic landscapes and theatrical compositions, drew inspiration from classical mythology here. The scene captures the heroic moment from the Argonaut legend when Jason confronts the fearsome dragon guarding the Goldenleece, surrounded by twisted trees that heighten the tension. Rosa's proto-Romantic style infuses the work with wild energy and emotional intensity, bridging Baroque grandeur wit...
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...