SALVATOR ROSA

Pure landscape painting was not regarded as sufficiently serious in the seventeenth century, so narrative elements were added to the picture to give it a biblical, mythological, or historical subject. While the Finding of Moses is represented in the painting, the true subject is the powerful landscape itself. Rosa's landscape paintings were quite popular in late eighteenth-century England. His depiction of nature, balancing direct observation with the classical tradition of harmony and order, reflected the English sensitivity to nature.