Banditti on the Bank of a River

Bandits linger on the bank of a river in this painting from around 1644 at Aberystwyth University"s School of Art Museum and Galleries. Rosa"s bandit scenes placed armed outlaws in the wild landscapes of southern Italy, creating images that combined danger with the romantic appeal of freedom outside the law. The Welsh university"s collection holds this work among its holdings of European painting. Rosa's bandit paintings created a lasting genre in European art, combining the Caravaggist tradition of armed figures with the picturesque landscape he had observed in the Abruzzo mountains and the Campagna around Naples.

Armed figures rest along a riverbank, their weapons and attitudes suggesting both danger and relaxation. The river provides a reflective surface that lightens the otherwise dark composition, while the surrounding landscape of rocks and trees maintains Rosa"s characteristic atmosphere of wild, uncultivated nature. The bandits are rendered with enough anatomical detail to convey their physical strength and menace, while the landscape brushwork remains characteristically bold and free.