Print, 'The Academy of Plato', Salvator Rosa, Rome, c. 1662

Townshend Bequest

Bequethead by the Rev. Townshend in 1869.

Historical significance: Although none of Salvator Rosa's etchings are dated, this etching is traditionally ascribed to a date around 1662. It is a fine example from Rosa's large output of prints and shows the foundation of Plato's Academy.
One of Rosa's larger prints from the1660s, it displays a classical and somewhat stiff composition which departs from the vigorous and energetic inventions of such earlier prints as St Albert, Glaucus and Scylla or Apollo and the Cumean Sybil. According to Wallace, this print corresponds to a turning-point in Rosa's career with the progressive development of a more classical and controlled harmony between the figures and the setting.
In Wallace's opinion, the composition may derive from one of Pietro Testa's etchings, The Seven Sages of Greece (Bartsch 18) whereas Tomory opted for Francesco Furini's fresco of the same subject in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
The Academy of Plato may have formed a pair with Diogenes and Alexander (see 23200:4) as they represent two of the most important philosophical schools of Ancient Greece: Platonism and Cynism, which informed Rosa's artistic and literary ideals. They also gave Rosa the opportunity to promote himself as a true 'painter-philosopher'.
A preparatory study, in reverse and with slight differences, is in the British Museum, London (1855,0714.54) while a few preparatory sketches for some of the figures in the print are in Leipzig (7457.25.88A), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (69.14), the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome (124,812), and the Odescalchi collection.

The original plate is preserved at the Calcografia Nazionale in Rome (Inv. 747d).

Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) was born in Arenella near Naples and soon absorbed the energy and violence informing Neapolitan art, characteristics which would be apparent throughout his career. Rosa was a prolific etcher but he also produced drawings and paintings. He particularly favoured subjects taken from the classical Antiquity, such as in the present case. The print shows here the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, disciple of Socrates, founding his school of philosophy called the Academy.

23200:2