Description

This work from a stylistic point of view can be correlated with the paintings of the final phase of the artist’s Florentine period and with the first years of his return to Rome, when – around 1649-1650 – Rosa abandoned classicism and introduced a “picturesque” vision of reality that emerges to break and animate the “ideal” scheme: in this way he places himself on a more modern plane than Claude Lorrain’s experiences. Rosa creates, in fact, a particular vision of the landscape where the natural scenery is in function of a melancholic feeling. To this period also belong a series of canvases dedicated to the sea, stylistically comparable with the work under consideration, which metaphorically address the romantic theme of inner restlessness by relating it to the vision of the landscape. Indeed, nature appears restless and animated, amid shimmering lights, black shadows and broad touches of color, while retaining an accent of solemn beauty.