Print, 'Alexander in the Studio of Apelles', Salvator Rosa, Rome, c. 1662

Given by Bernard H. Webb

Bernard H. Webb Bequest

Although none of Salvator Rosa's etchings are dated, this etching is traditionally ascribed to a date around 1662. The present work, which belongs to Rosa’s group of larger etchings, depicts the story of Alexander the Great in the studio of Apelles, related by the Ancient author Pliny (25:85-86). By showing Apelles asking Alexander to remain silent, Rosa was combining two of his greatest centres of interest: Classical history and Stoicism, a philosophy based on the control of passions and an ideal of inner solitude, which became the dominant philosophy across the whole of the Ancient World. Silence was furthermore one of Rosa’s obsession as embodied in one of his Self-Portrait (London, The National Gallery- NG4680), which bears the inscription: ‘aut tacere aut loquere meliora silentio’ (be silent or be your speech more useful than silence). This print as well as the other large prints produced by Rosa at the end of his career also addresses the central issue of the artist as a philosopher, scholar and learned painter, which was the figure Rosa wanted to embodied all his life long.

According to Wallace, this print along with the Genius of Rosa looks more classical in the composition and shows therefore a stylistic evolution in the artist’s print production. The composition of E.4283-1919 is indeed more balanced and harmonious with a number of references to the art of the classical tradition: Wallace noted for instance that Alexander’s pose is reminiscent of that seen in a number of ancient reliefs and coins, and Apelles is strikingly like the pointing woman with her finger to her lips in the background of Poussin’s Exposure of Moses (Ashmolean museum, Oxford) and may ultimately derives from the classical Harpocrates type.

A preparatory drawing for the print, in reverse and scored for transfer is in the Gabinetto nazionale delle Stampe, Rome (F.N.125794). A copy of the drawing, in the same direction, was sold at Christies London July 6, 1965, lot 140.

The original copper plate is preserved in the Calcografia Nazionale, Rome (Inv. 747e).

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 emperor Alexander the Great in the studio of Apelles, the most celebrated painter of the Antiquity, who became an intimate friend of the Emperor. Their intimacy was such that Apelles was able to silence Alexander who was talking too much and caused the hilarity of the painter’s young assistants.

E.4283-1919