The Genius of Salvator Rosa

One of the most extravagant personalities of the Italian Baroque, Rosa viewed himself as an inspired genius. The inscription at the bottom of this print reveals Rosa’s view of his creative identity and capabilities: “Sincere, free, fiery painter, and equitable, / despiser of wealth and death. This is my genius.” The figures in the etching illustrate the inscription almost word for word, embodying various aspects of this highly complex ideological self-portrait. Rosa’s genius is represented by the reclining, handsome youth. Sincerity (Ingenuus) is the woman with a dove in her right hand and a heart in her left; Liberty (Liber) is the woman placing the cap on Rosa’s head; Painter (Pictor) is the kneeling woman at left holding a canvas; Equality (Aequus) is the standing man gesturing toward a book; and the female satyr behind Pictor is a representation of Rosa’s fiery, satirical genius (Succensor).