Salvator Rosa (1615–1673) was an Italian artist. Rosa worked in Naples, Rome and Florence, pursuing poetry and satire as well as painting and printmaking. His landscapes often give rocks, trees and weather an active role in the drama of a scene. The paired witchcraft pictures make that concern especially visible. Their circular boundaries gather figures and terrain into compact worlds, inviting comparison of the different light, activity and atmosphere that distinguish the morning scene from its evening companion.
Rosa’s paired circular scenes of witchcraft present different moments of a dark imagined world. In the morning scene, a young witch and strange creatures occupy a rocky setting. The evening companion draws attention towards a small light and the gathering around it.
The selected pictures
Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning: Fantastic creatures and a seated figure occupy a rocky setting in Rosa’s circular painting. The reproduction preserves the original round composition and its surrounding black field. Scenes of Witchcraft: Evening: A small gathering works around a light beneath skeletal forms in Rosa’s dark circular scene. The complete museum reproduction retains the original round support and surrounding black field.
A painted surface offers more than a collection of depicted objects. Changes in the density of colour, the direction of a brush mark and the softness of an edge help establish where the eye pauses and where it moves on. A dark passage can give a neighbouring light greater presence; a barely stated form can connect two more solid ones. Compare the main subject with one quieter area around it, then return to the whole arrangement. This approach makes colour and handling part of the encounter, alongside the narrative or landscape that the painting brings into view.
Looking closely
Rocky landscapes and supernatural scenes shaped by drama and shadow.
Begin with the largest forms, then follow the smaller marks that connect them. In Scenes of Witchcraft: Morning, compare the subject with the space around it and the way light moves between them. Return to the complete picture after looking at a detail: its effect depends on the relationship of those parts, and the arrangement often reveals something different on a second visit.
Art to live with.
Fine-art prints on 200 gsm paper. Choose unframed or explore the available frame finishes, in a size that suits your space.
