(Arenella 1615–1673 Rome)
A Mediterranean coastal landscape with a ship,
signed lower center right: Rosa,
oil on canvas, 78 x 86 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Edward Façon Watson, London, 19th Century (according to a label on the reverse);
Private Collection, Rome

The attribution of the present painting has been confirmed by Caterina Volpi (written communication, in copy).

The present painting belongs to Salvator Rosa’s first Florentine period from the early 1640s, when patrons connected with the Medici court turned to the painter to obtain marine views that were mostly modelled on the prototype he executed in 1639 for the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid, commissioned by King Philip IV: the Marina with a view of Salerno, now in the Museo Nacional del Prado (see: C. Volpi, Salvator Rosa ‘pittore famoso’ (1615–1673), Rome 2014, no. 53). From his earliest emergence in Naples, Salvator Rosa demonstrated his vocation for the representation of nature, dedicating himself to the study from life of the coastal landscape in the vicinity of Naples. Following his move to Florence in 1641, his marine views became more elaborate and monumental, revealing an evolution in his style of landscape painting, which was akin to contemporary examples by Gaspar Dughet and Agostino Tassi, whom he had the opportunity to meet during his sojourn in Rome from 1635 to 1637.

In the present painting certain poetic details, such as the figures in the background and the boat in the foreground, or the virtuosity with which the reflections on the sea are depicted, stand witness to the lively new inspiration Rosa’s pictorial language received from his contact with Florentine painters, and his involvement with the Medici court.

The passage showing the rocky coast rising steeply out of the sea recalls the majestic landscape of Leto and the Lycian shepherds from a private collection, dated to the mid-1640s (see: C. Volpi, Ibidem, no. 122), while the overall composition reveals close similarities to A rocky coastal landscape with figures building a boat, with Saint Anthony Preaching to the Fish, which was recently on the London art market (sale, Christie’s, London, 3 July 2013, lot 202; see: C. Volpi, Ibidem, no. 75).