Three ox skulls and three horse skulls

Details

Salvator Rosa (Arenella 1615-1673 Rome)
Three ox skulls and three horse skulls
black chalk, pen and brown ink on light brown paper, minor losses
6¼ x 3¾ in. (159 x 95 mm.)

Provenance

Lord Northwick, and by descent at Northwick Park to
Capt. E.G. Spencer-Churchill; Sotheby's, 18 November 1919, lot 21 (25s. with 14 other 'Grotesque drawings of animals').

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, The Paul Oppé Collection, 1958, no. 434 (as Jacob de Gheyn II).

Engraved

Etched in reverse with differences and additions by the artist (Wallace 107).

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The two skulls in the upper part and the diagonally placed skull in the lower part of this drawing were etched, in reverse, for one of the artist's three prints thought to have been made in connection with his large etching of Democritus in Meditation, dated 1662 (Wallace 104). Variations in the placement and morphology of the skulls are placed around the philosopher's feet in the final composition.

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