The Death of Medusa

The artist, who may have been born in Genoa, worked primarily in Rome, becoming a member of the Accademia di San Luca in 1673 and the Accademia dei Virtuosi al Pantheon in 1674. While there, he is thought to have been a pupil of Pietro da Cortona, with whom some of his Roman work shares an affinity, and was also influenced by Luca Giordano, whose imprint is visible in the present picture. A subsequent lengthy sojourn in Venice, where the present picture was most likely executed, introduced the artist to the work of painters such as Giovanni Battista Langetti, whose influence is also particularly evident in this picture. For comparable works by Rosa, see, R. Pallucchini, La Pittura Veneziana del Settecento, Milan, 1981, II, p. 857, figs. 936-8.