1664
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dominant colour
Polycrates and the Fisherman is a 1664 oil by Salvator Rosa, a Baroque work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a king and a fisherman in a dramatic scene. The story behind this painting is interesting. It's based on a tale from ancient historian Herodotus. The king, Polycrates, tried to balance his good fortune by throwing a ring into the sea, but it was returned to him, which ultimately led to his downfall. Check out the work of artist Salvator Rosa.
This painting and its companion piece recount the story of the Greek king Polycrates, as told by the ancient historian Herodotus. Polycrates, ruler of the island of Samos, worried that he was tempting fate with his great prosperity. He tried to introduce some counterbalancing misfortune into his life by throwing a precious signet ring into the sea, but it was swallowed by a large fish and returned to the king by a fisherman, the episode shown here. Polycrates’s good fortune came to an end when he was entrapped by Oroetus of Sardis and put to death, the event illustrated in Polycrates’…
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].…
New York, Schaeffer Galleries, Gem of Baroque Painting, 1942, no. 30. New York, Durlacher Brothers, A Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Salvator Rosa 1615–1673, 1948, no. 2. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Art Gallery, Old Master from Midwestern Museums, 1948–49, no. cat. Flint, Michigan, Flint Institute of Arts, A Survey from Giotto to the Impressionists, 1949, no. cat. Pasadena, California, Pasadena Art Institute, Baroque Exhbition, 1950, no. cat. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Exhibition of Favorite Italian and Spanish Masters of the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Baroque Era), 1951, no. 21. Wellesley,…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Salvator Rosa (1615 – 15 March 1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticised landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th century.
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