(Naples 1615–1673 Rome)
Hermit Saint (Diogenes?)
oil on canvas, 44.7 x 35 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

Literature:
C. Volpi, Salvator Rosa (1615–1673) pittore famoso, Roma 2014, p. 593, no. 321, ill.

The present painting has been included in the recent monograph by Caterina Volpi as a fully autograph work by Salvator Rosa. The canvas depicts a man with a lance sitting in an arid and solitary landscape. Caterina Volpi identifies the figure either as a Hermit Saint or as Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who rejected human conventions, attempting to live a life close to nature. If the second identification is correct, Diogenes was represented in the moment in which he broke a bowl, his last possession, upon seeing a peasant drink out of his hands.

The profil perdu of the figure and the landscape are typical of the late production of Salvator Rosa, when he executed such works as Saint George and the Dragon, Saint Bruno, Saint Paul Hermit, Saint Onuphrius (see C. Volpi, op. cit., 2014, pp. 584, 587-589, nos. 308, 311-314). The dimensions and the free brushstrokes of the present canvas may suggest that it is a sketch. Volpi has dated the painting to circa 1668–1670, and compared it to other works such as Tobia and the angel and David and Goliath (see C. Volpi, op. cit., 2014, pp. 569, 576, nos. 285, 297).