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Lot Essay
This coastal landscape can be dated to the early activity of Salvator Rosa. While still imbued with his Neapolitan style, it was probably executed after his arrival in Rome, in 1635, and before his departure for Florence, in 1640. Helen Langdon proposes a date of c. 1639 for this picture, placing it chronologically close to pendant landscapes painted for Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena (Modena, Galleria Estense). She compares it also with the Crates throwing his money into the sea (Skipton, Yorkshire, Broughton Hall). Professor Caterina Volpi notes influences from works by Agostino Tassi and Filippo Napoletano, which Rosa must have seen in Rome after 1635, and links the painting with Salvator Rosa's production of marines for patrons in Spain, Modena and Florence. Xavier Salomon also dates the painting to c. 1638-40, and suggests that it was executed either in Rome or immediately after the artist's arrival in Florence.
The subject is taken from the Fioretti of Saint Francis. When trying to preach in Rimini, Saint Anthony of Padua was obstructed by several heretics. He then moved towards the bank of a river and addressed the fish with his inspiring words: 'Cominciaron li pesci aprire la bocca e inchinaron li capi' (the fish started opening their mouths, and bowing their heads) and both the locals and the heretics rushed to view the miracle, kneeling at the feet of the Saint (Fonti Francescane, Editio Minor, Padua, 1998, CL, pp. 948-950). The same miracle is depicted by Salvator Rosa in another work, signed with initials, formerly in the Spencer collection, Althorp, and now in a private collection (exhibited in Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, Salvator Rosa tra mito e magia, 18 April-29 June 2008, no. 73).
We are grateful to Helen Langdon and Xavier F. Salomon, for independently confirming the attribution on inspection of the original; and to Professor Caterina Volpi, for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.
The subject is taken from the Fioretti of Saint Francis. When trying to preach in Rimini, Saint Anthony of Padua was obstructed by several heretics. He then moved towards the bank of a river and addressed the fish with his inspiring words: 'Cominciaron li pesci aprire la bocca e inchinaron li capi' (the fish started opening their mouths, and bowing their heads) and both the locals and the heretics rushed to view the miracle, kneeling at the feet of the Saint (Fonti Francescane, Editio Minor, Padua, 1998, CL, pp. 948-950). The same miracle is depicted by Salvator Rosa in another work, signed with initials, formerly in the Spencer collection, Althorp, and now in a private collection (exhibited in Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, Salvator Rosa tra mito e magia, 18 April-29 June 2008, no. 73).
We are grateful to Helen Langdon and Xavier F. Salomon, for independently confirming the attribution on inspection of the original; and to Professor Caterina Volpi, for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.