Salvator Rosa in French Literature: from the Bizarre to the Sublime
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Studies in Romance Languages Series University Press of Kentucky 2005 Salvator Rosa in French Literature: From the Bizarre to the Sublime James S. Patty Vanderbilt University Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/srls_book Part of the French and Francophone Literature Commons Preface i Salvator Rosa in French Literature ii Preface Studies in Romance Languages John E. Keller, Editor Preface iii Salvator Rosa in French Literature From the Bizarre to the Sublime James S. Patty THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY iv Preface Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 2005 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Patty, James S. Salvator Rosa in French literature : from the bizarre to the sublime / James S. Patty. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8131-2330-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. French literature—19th century—History and criticism. 2. Rosa, Salvator, 1615–1673—In literature. 3. Rosa, Salvator, 1615–1673—Influence. I. Title. PQ283.P29 2004 840.9'351—dc22 2004024344 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses Preface v Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Crossing the Alps 7 2. Toward Romanticism 39 3. Enter Lady Morgan 67 4. Lady Morgan’s Legacy 101 5. Rosa and the Major Romantics 127 6. Criticism, Scholarship, and Journalism, 1824–ca. 1860 159 7. A Fading Beacon 197 Conclusion 215 Notes 223 Bibliography 253 Index 261 vi Preface page vi - blank Preface vii Preface For about two centuries, the paintings of Salvator Rosa (1615–1673) en- joyed great popularity in Europe, and his works were on view in many major museums and private collections. His name was often mentioned with those of Poussin and Claude Lorrain as a master of landscape. He was especially popular in England; English travelers on the Grand Tour bought many Rosas—not all of them authentic—and took them back to their home coun- try. In France the situation was a little different: while there had been a fairly brisk trade in Rosa’s paintings in the second half of the eighteenth century, what mattered most was that several major works could be seen at the Lou- vre from the revolutionary period on. Because of the “pre-romantic quali- ties” of his landscapes, Rosa came to be regarded as a kindred spirit by the romantics. Once described as “bizarre,” his pictures, especially his landscapes, were seen as “savage” and even “sublime.” Rosa’s colorful personality, that of a stormy, passionate, and proudly independent artist, suited the romantic mood. The legend, then accepted as historical fact, that he had participated in a popular revolt against the Spanish in Naples in 1647 reinforced the im- age. This image received a powerful boost from the vivid biography pub- lished in both English and French in 1824, which came from the pen of the Anglo-Irish writer known as Lady Morgan (ca. 1776–1859). The two vol- umes of her biography provided information and critical viewpoints, not only to art historians and art critics, but to poets, fiction writers, and dramatists as well. Rosa was the hero of a full-fledged romantic drama by Ferdinand Dugué; the play received an elaborate production at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint- Martin in 1851 and was revived several times. Rosa was born near Naples and spent most of his early life in that city. viii Preface But it was in Rome and Tuscany, especially the former, that he had his artis- tic career. He began to enjoy significant patronage by the age of twenty and was patronized by several Medici princes in the early 1640s. In 1649 he settled for good in Rome, where by the force of his personality he established him- self as a successful, independent artist. His work attracted attention abroad and led to invitations and commissions from several foreign rulers. Rosa practiced a number of genres: history painting, marines, battle scenes, portraits, and landscapes. His productions in this last-named genre were primarily responsible for his growing popularity, both in Italy and abroad. His pictures may be found in many major museums in Europe and the United States; the largest number are to be seen in Italy, Great Britain, and France. Rosa was a controversial but rather popular poet because of his seven satires. And several hundred of his letters have survived. It was the availability of several of his works in the Louvre from the nineteenth century on that accounts for many of the most interesting refer- ences to Rosa by French writers. Among those who discuss Rosa are Staël, Stendhal, Balzac, Sand, Hugo, Dumas, Michelet, Gautier, and Baudelaire. References to Rosa are particularly numerous in the work of Gautier, one of the most prolific French art critics in the nineteenth century. Rosa’s popularity is linked to the rise of romanticism. Early art critics and art historians in French often judged him by classical criteria and found his work “bizarre.” But in the decades leading to the triumph of romanticism, his landscapes came to match the dominant mood, with their somber and “wild” scenes of rugged scenery. Joined to several myths cir- culated by writers like Lady Morgan, his work was regarded as romantic before romanticism. The fading of the more histrionic strains in romanticism and the com- ing, after midcentury, of such movements as realism and impressionism, led to some decline in Rosa’s vogue in France. But he was not forgotten; art critics and art historians continued to write about him, and several of his major works remained and still remain on view in the Louvre. And, during some recent remodeling of that museum, a large room was rechristened the Salle Salvator Rosa. Thus Rosa now has a permanent place in the cultural life of France. A study of the documents that substantiate the process by which this phenomenon came about would seem to be in order. Preface ix Acknowledgments In putting this study together, I have received help from a number of col- leagues, most of whom are also good friends: Professors Lois Cassandra Hamrick, John E. Keller, Luigi Monga, Claude Pichois, Helen and Raymond Poggenburg, Laurence M. Porter, Claude Schopp, Albert B. Smith, James K. Wallace, and Dr. Graham Robb. Special thanks are owed to Mrs. Mary Monga for turning a rather messy manuscript into an expertly typed text and for pro- viding, in the process, numerous important improvements through her sug- gestions and questions. I am also greatly indebted to the readers who evaluated my text for their valuable criticisms and suggestions. May all these persons find here a heartfelt expression of my gratitude for their contributions. x Preface page x - blank Introduction 1 Introduction In late 1831, Samuel F. B. Morse, the American painter—and future inven- tor of the telegraph—began work on a huge picture, Gallery of the Louvre, showing the Salon carré as a sort of musée imaginaire, a crowded collection of the paintings that Morse evidently considered outstanding and represen- tative.1 On display are copies of thirty-eight paintings by twenty-three art- ists, mostly Italian, French, and Flemish. In the place of honor, near the center of the bottom row, is, not surprisingly, the Mona Lisa. On the top row, well right of center and well above the imaginary viewer’s eye level, in shadow, is a representation of Salvator Rosa’s Landscape with Soldiers and Hunters. The inclusion of Rosa’s picture, its place in Morse’s imaginary exposition, and his choice of the recently acquired Landscape rather than any of the several other Rosas in the Louvre are revealing: In the early nineteenth cen- tury Salvator Rosa was a name to be reckoned with, an artist whose work had won its way into public and critical favor and who was known primarily as a landscapist. But, clearly, his place was not as prominent as those of Titian and Van Dyck or Rubens and Murillo (with three pictures each) or Guido Reni, Veronese, Rembrandt, and Poussin, all of whom had two pictures in Morse’s ideal Louvre. One must not make too much out of these numbers— one Mona Lisa or one Raphael Madonna easily outshone the Rosa Land- scape, high on the wall and dimly lit. But Rosa has at least made it into Morse’s picture and, quite significantly, is represented by a landscape. All in all, Rosa’s appearance in Gallery of the Louvre may be seen as depicting, quite literally, the high point of his reputation.