Allegory of Fortune
Allegory of Fortune c1658-59 by Italian Painter Salvator Rosa (1615 – 1673); bi awayên xwe yên zêde û ne ortodoks û kesayetiya xwe ya serhildêr tê naskirin. He is considered a Proto-Romantic and was also a poet and a Printmaker.
In this image of fortune (normally depicted with a blindfold), Salvator Rosa shows her bestowing the symbols of wealth status and power through a cornucopia (which is generally shown pointing upwards), on to animals that have no need for them and can not understand what is being given to them.
The animals in the painting trample the attributes of art and learning which are shown in the books and painters palette on the floor; while the ass that is draped in a cloak of cardinal red (the color of the catholic church), which shields an owl, that is considered to be the symbol of wisdom from the light.
Rosa who was bitter over his exclusion of papal patronage, includes references to that fact with a book that has his monogram, and a pig that is stepping on a rose that alludes to his name.
This painting was a satire of Pope Alexander the VII nepotistic artistic patronage and it nearly got him sent to prison. After a private showing in his studio, he flagrantly disregarded all the advice he was given not to exhibit the painting, and exhibited the piece publicly in 1659 at the Pantheon.
The piece raised so much furor, that only through the intervention of the pope’s brother was Rosa saved from from being thrown into prison.
This is a retouched digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available for purchase online as a rolled canvas print.
