The Baroque Painter of Religion, Mythology, Witches and Allegory
Selected Works by Baroque Painter Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an influential Italian Baroque painter who was born either on this day or the previous in 1615.
His work primarily included biblical, mythological and allegorical scenes, as well as paintings depicting the lives of philosophers.
During the time of his influence (which expanded across from the 17th century into the early 19th century) he was described as an unorthodox artist as the religious and mythological figures and scenes he chose to paint were seldomly addressed by other artist during this period.
Rosa was also a versatile artist who engaged in a wide variety of artistic outlets including music, poetry, writing, etching, and acting. This involvement in the arts, combined with his unorthodox approach, suggests that Rosa was interested in the pursuit of knowledge, self-awareness, the expansion of consciousness and the overall understanding of life’s mysteries.
I have selected four of Rosa’s paintings which act and serve as symbols of some of life’s lessons.
Religion: The Prodigal Son
The Prodigal Son is a parable of Jesus in the Bible that symbolizes death of one version of the self, a rebirth, forgiveness, redemption and the divine’s eternal love.
In short, this parable tells the story of how one young man strays away from home in hopes of freedom and a glamorous life. He soon learns of life’s true difficulties and seeks to return home by pleading for his father’s forgiveness. His father readily accepts his sons return.
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
— Luke 15:32, KJV
Many individuals at one point in their lives seek change in the form of freedom and solitude, which at times leads one to also abandon previous commitments and relationships. Although many do this in order to seek bliss, they are often confronted with new challenges. These unexpected challenges lead the individual to grow because they were required to mature and become more grateful as they learned to view life through a different lens due to their new experiences.
Just like the son in this parable, the individual often fears that we will be punished for our previous and seemingly selfish pursuits, only to realize that our father, the divine and universe will always accept us during each stage of our self development.
Mythology: Apollo and Sibyl
This painting depicts the scene of the Greek myth in which the mortal woman Sibyl takes a handful of sand, asking the god Apollo to allow her to live as many years as the grains of sand within her hands. Sand in mythology is said to symbolize time, transformation and the cycle of life and death.
As told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the god Apollo grants the mortal woman’s wish of longevity in exchange for her virginity. However later on when she refuses the god’s love, he revokes her eternal youth.
Before her encounter with the god Apollo, Sibyl was a priestess known for her gifts of prophecy and literature. In Virgil’s Aeneid, she is known for assisting and accompanying Aeneas on his journey to the underworld. She served as a both a guide and bridge between the realms of the living and the dead.
Trojan, Anchises’ son, the descent of Avernus is easy.
All night long, all day, the doors of Hades stand open.
But to retrace the path, to come up to the sweet air of heaven,
That is labour indeed.— Aeneid 6.126–129.
It can be inferred that Sibyl’s wish for longevity was because she aspired to both continually serve as an aid between the realms and to continually serve as a prophetess. In that case, she can be regarded as a figure and symbol of supernatural aid.
According to Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces-which serves not only as a common template of a hero for stories, but also a template for one’s inner journey towards self-development, growth and consciousness-the supernatural aid stage represents a period where the hero and or individual encounters help along the way. This help received by the supernatural aid is crucial as they will receive valuable and necessary information to complete their journey.
“What such a figure represents is the benign, protecting power of destiny.”
-Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
The figure of supernatural aid is often represented by either a crone or elderly man.
“…the first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure (often a little old crone or old man)…”
-Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
This relates to our next figure and painting of Rosa as he often painted scenes of witches.
Witches: The Witch
This is just one of Rosa’s many paintings of witches.
Witches in mythology can serve as either a benevolent or malevolent force as they represent two aspects of the Mother Goddess. In both cases, the witch assists and encourages the hero (and or individual) on their journey of growth and self development.
A malevolent witch embodies desires, greed, our shadow, the unconscious and hindered growth. In myths and fairy tales, an encounter with a malevolent witch symbolizes the need to confront the negative aspects of the self in order to grow or advance in our lives.
“The protagonists of fairy tales deal with the witch or the monster, which means facing their own shadow, overcoming the limitation of the ego and consciousness expanding”.
-Salvatore Settineri, The Medusa Complex
A benevolent witch serves as crone which can provide one with ancient knowledge and wisdom.
The figure in this painting, rather than being depicted as a malevolent creature stirring fear or mischief, seems to mostly represent a crone like symbol of esoteric knowledge as she can be seen engaged in some sort of ritual and or incantation. This crone figure in the painting, as previously mentioned above, can be viewed as a figure of supernatural aid.
Allegory: Human Fragility
This painting of Rosa’s is probably the most personal of his collection as it includes a figure that represents his deceased son.
This was painted during a plague that took place in Naples, in which many of his relatives were inflicted and passed away due to. This painting serves as an allegorical message in which Rosa attempts to claim life as a burden filled with punishments.
The mass skeletal figure with wings represents the angel of death, which can be seen directing the young boy’s hand to write out “Conceptio Culpa, Nasci Pena, Labor Vita, Necesse Mori”, which means “Conception is a sin, Birth is a punishment, Life is toil, Death a necessity.”
The impermanence of life was a common theme reflected in art during this period. Although the artist seems to portray a sense of defeat and loss of hope within this painting, there is a sense of peace with his understanding and acceptance of death as an inescapable and essential part of nature and the life cycle.
