Polycrates and the Fisherman
Salvator Rosa·1664
Historical Context
Salvator Rosa's Polycrates and the Fisherman (1664), companion to the Crucifixion panel, depicts the moment when a fisherman returns a ring Polycrates had thrown into the sea as a sacrifice to fortune. The ring's miraculous reappearance within a fish's belly was interpreted by the Egyptians as a sign of fatal divine displeasure — the gods would not accept the offering of a man too fortunate to suffer ordinary loss. Rosa treats the scene with his characteristic atmosphere of unease: the massive figures in a darkened landscape, the distant sea glittering ominously. Rosa's ability to combine Herodotean narrative with emotional and moral weight made these late works his most intellectually ambitious productions.
Technical Analysis
Rosa renders the encounter between tyrant and fisherman with his characteristic dramatic lighting and atmospheric depth. The landscape setting is rendered with bold, expressive brushwork, while the figures are posed in a theatrical arrangement that emphasizes the narrative moment. The dark, moody palette creates an atmosphere of foreboding.
Provenance
Bonaventura Argenti (died 1697), Rome; by descent to Argenti’s heirs, Rome 1697 to 1698 [“Due quardri da Quattro palmi in circa, con due Historie di Policrate cornice dorata di Salvator Rosa, 250 Scudi“ (Two pictures, each about four palms across, with two histories of Policrates framed in gold by Salvator Rosa, 250 Scudi); Giuseppe Ghezzi, “Quadri delle case de Prencipi in Roma,” 1686–1717, MS. 93, Palazzo Braschi, Rome, c. 283; published by Meroni 1978, p. 89 and de Marchi 1987, pp. 384, 392–93]; consigned for sale to Giuseppe Ghezzi, Rome, about 1698 [see Ghezzi 1686–1717 cited above]. Probably 2nd Earl of Warwick, (Warwick Castle) by 1801 [auction of June 1, 1801 at Christie’s, bought in; see Fredericksen and Zeri 1972]. Schaeffer Galleries, New York, 1942 [see New York 1942, no. 30]. A. F. Mondschein, New York by 1942; sold to the Art Institute, 1942.
