The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 15, 2025

Ruins in a Rocky Landscape

c. 1640
(Italian, 1615–1673)
Italy, 17th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 157.5 x 189.2 x 7 cm (62 x 74 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 144 x 176.7 cm (56 11/16 x 69 9/16 in.)
Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. 1958.472
Location: not on view

Description

In 1635, Rosa left his native Naples for Rome, the undisputed art center of the 17th century, where a new type of landscape painting was emerging, distinguished by the effects of light and atmosphere. Rosa’s fame grew quickly as a painter of landscapes that conjured the beauty and fertility of the Bay of Naples. Ruins in a Rocky Landscape incorporates classical ruins, iridescent reflections of light, and a pastoral tone evoked by the idling shepherds, exemplifying the work that earned Rosa his early fame. The dark, dramatic rocks that rise along the left foreshadow the wildness that Rosa would cultivate in his later sublime landscapes.
  • Duke Francesco I d’Este, Modena; Duke Francesco V d’Este, Modena and Vienna:
    Duke Francis Ferdinand, Vienna;
    Maximillian, Duke of Hohenberg, Palace of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Vienna;
    Rosenberg & Stiebel (New York, New York), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
  • Langdon, Helen. Salvator Rosa Paint and Performance. London: Reaktion Books, Limited, 2022. pp.42-48. Chapter 1
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 397; Mentioned: p. 396-398
    Coe, Nancy. “A Landscape Painting by Salvator Rosa.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 46, no. 4 (April 1959): 62–63. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 62-63 www.jstor.org
    Žakula, Tijana. "Reforming Dutch Art: Gerard del Lairesse on Beauty, Morals and Class." Simiolus 37 (2013-2014): 7-130. Mentioned andreproduced: p. 68, fig. 53
    Segrave, Hannah. "The Novel and the Bizarre: A focus exhibition looks at four 17-th century tondi by Salvator Rosa.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 55, no. 1 (January/February 2015): 8-10. Reproduced: p. 10; Mentioned: p. 9, 10. archive.org
    Zakula, Tijana. "Reforming Dutch Art: Gerard de Lairesse on Beauty, Morals, and Class." Simiolus 37, special edition (2013-2014): 8-138. Reproduced: P. 58, fig. 53.
    Farina, Viviana. Il giovane Salvator Rosa: gli inizi di un grande maestro del '600 europeo. Monghidoro (BO) - Italy: Con-fine edizioni, dicembre, 2015. Reproduced: P.82, fig.93; P. 136, fig. D49 Cfr.
    Loire, Stéphane. Nature et idéal: le paysage à Rome, 1600-1650: album de l'exposition. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2011. Reproduced: P. 28, fig. 25
  • The Novel and the Bizarre: Salvator Rosa's Scenes of Witchcraft. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 15-June 14, 2015).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (2/15/2015 - 6/14/2015); "The Novel and the Bizarre: Salvator Rosa's Scenes of Witchcraft"
    Landscape Painting in Rome, 1600-1650. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 8-June 6, 2011); Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain (June 27-September 25, 2011).
    RMN (organizer). Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris (3/8/2011 - 6/6/2011) and Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (6/2/2011 - 9/25/2011): "Landscape Painting in Rome, 1600-1650"
    Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi. Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (June 13-October 19, 2008).
    Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH (6/13/2008 - 10/19/2008): "Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi"
    Italy: Pasazzo Ducale di Sassuolo "Disegni da una grande collezione. Maestri Italiani dalle antiche raccolte estensi da Parigi e da Modena" 9/12 - 11/29/98.
    Disegni da una grande collezione. Maestri italiani dal XV al XVII secolo delle antiche raccolte estensi di Modena. Palazzo Ducale di Sassuolo (September 12-November 30, 1998).
    Baroque Imagery. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 1984-January 6, 1985).
    CMA, November 6, 1984-January 6, 1985: "Baroque Imagery, cat. # 40, pp. 70-72, repr. p. 71.
  • {{cite web|title=Ruins in a Rocky Landscape|url=false|author=Salvator Rosa|year=c. 1640|access-date=15 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.472