Salvator Rosa painted history, landscape, battle-pieces, and sea-ports;
and of these he was most eminent in landscape. The scholar of
Spagnoletto, he attached himself to the strong natural style and dark
coloring of that master, which well accords with his subjects. In his
landscapes, instead of selecting the cultured amenity which captivates
in the views of Claude or Poussin, he made choice of the lonely haunts
of wolves and robbers; instead of the delightful vistas of Tivoli and
the Campagna, he adopted the savage scenery of the Alps, rocky
precipices, caves with wild thickets and desert plains; his trees are
shattered, or torn up by the roots, and in the atmosphere itself he
seldom introduced a cheerful hue, except occasionally a solitary
sunbeam. These gloomy regions are peopled with congenial inhabitants,
ferocious banditti, assassins, and outlaws. In his marines, he followed
the same taste; they represent the desolate and shelvy shores of
Calabria, whose dreary aspect is sometimes heightened by terrific
tempests, with all the horrors of shipwreck. His battles and attacks of
cavalry also partake of the same principle of wild beauty; the fury of
the combatants, and the fiery animation of the horses are depicted with
a truth and effect that strikes the mind with horror. Notwithstanding
the singularity and fierceness of his style, he captivates by the
unbounded wildness of his fancy, and the picturesque solemnity of his
scenes.
Salvator Rosa wrought with wonderful facility, and could paint a well
finished landscape and insert all the figures in one day; it is
impossible to inspect one of his bold, rapid sketches, without being
struck with the fertility of his invention, and the skill of hand that
rivalled in execution the activity of his mind. He was also an excellent
portrait painter. A portrait of himself is in the church degli Angeli,
where his remains were interred, and he introduced his own portrait into
several of his pictures, one of which is in the Chigi gallery,
representing a wild scene with a poet in a sitting attitude, (with the
features of Salvator); before him stands a satyr, allusive to his
satiric style of poetry. During his life-time, his works were much
sought after by princes and nobles, and they are now to be found in the
choicest collections of Italy and of Europe. There is a landscape in the
English National Gallery which cost 1800 guineas; a picture in the
collection of Sir Mark Sykes brought the enormous sum of 2100 guineas.