Two figures, one reclining, the other pointing upwards

The Neapolitan artist Salvator Rosa, who worked in Rome and then Florence, is famous for his landscapes. The present work is a preparatory drawing quite similar (albeit with certain differences) to a signed etching, in which the composition is reversed. The etching belongs to the famous series Figurines, a suite comprised of 62 plates featuring resting military figures in contemporary armour or turbans. According to a letter written by Rosa to his friend Giovanni Battista Ricciardi, whom the artist frequently consulted, Rosa worked on the series in 1656 to 1657 while in Rome. In the letter, Rosa asks Ricciardi what he thinks of his dedicating the series of 25 etchings, a series that would be subsequently expanded, to his friend and patron Carlo de’ Rossi (Wallace, op. cit., 1979, p. 17).

While the drawing shows the soldier seated holding a spear, addressing a figure in a turban, the print shows the man in armour with his gaze turned more towards the viewer. Furthermore, the figure behind him looking into the distance and followed by a man in long robes, is different from the one in the drawing.

The use of a sharp pen and brown ink to outline the figures, in contrast with the translucent brown wash used in the background, appears in other similar works, notably a Helmeted soldier standing with his left arm outstretched at the Uffizi (inv. 2223F), as well as in a series of studies sold at Christie’s, London, 6 July 1976, lots 52-56.