The Dream of Aenëas c. 1663 - 1664

print, etching

pencil drawn

amateur sketch

toned paper

light pencil work

print

etching

pencil sketch

charcoal drawing

pencil drawing

detailed observational sketch

pen-ink sketch

pencil work

italy

"The Dream of Aenëas" is a c. 1663–1664 etching by Italian Baroque artist Salvator Rosa, depicting the Trojan hero Aenëas asleep, dreaming of the future glory of Rome. The etching depicts a powerful moment of reflection and foreshadowing, with a dramatic, yet refined use of line and shading. The dream-like quality of the composition, with its focus on the figure of Aenëas, is a characteristic of Rosa's work, who was known for his expressive depictions of mythological and historical subjects. The etching is currently in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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While the hero of Virgil's epic Aeneid sleeps, exhausted after his trip from Troy to Italy to establish the future city of Rome, the river god Tiber appears to predict his success. Sporting a crown of reeds, Tiber strikes the same kind of impassioned pose as the figure in the MIA's painting Saint Humphrey (about 1660), also by Salvator Rosa. This etching is very much in the tradition of the Roman baroque, with a profusion of diagonals adding energy to the scene. The melodramatic Rosa also worked as an actor and playwright, which may account for the theatrical Gorgon's head on Aeneas's shield.