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Polycrates' Crucifixion, Salvator Rosa, 1664
Salvator Rosa, portraitSalvator RosaItalian, 1615–1673

Polycrates' Crucifixion

1664 · Painting

May one see it?

Yes, receiving visitors

Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Room209

On public display.

Checked
In this state since
Source
The museum
On the mapMuseum page

About the painting

A native of Naples, Salvator Rosa settled in Rome in 1649, producing dramatic works regarded as counterparts to the calm, classical landscapes of his contemporaries Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. Rosa’s landscapes present nature as wild, filled with striking effects of light, jagged cliffs, and dark grottoes. These qualities underline the eerie mood in his depiction of the death of Polycrates, ruler of the Greek island of Samos. Together with its companion piece Polycrates and the Fisherman, it illustrates the king’s inability to escape the ups and downs of fortune to which all humans are subject.

Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0

Particulars

Accession number
1942.292

What it shows

CrucifixionsDeathViolenceSoldiersKingRoyalRoyaltySpearsWeaponsTreeNatureRocksLandscapeCloudsSkyManPeopleMountainsNarrative

In the catalog

PaintingsOilItalian paintingBaroque17th centuryItaly

Sources

More by Salvator Rosa

All works
Self-Portrait, Salvator Rosa, ca. 1647

Self-Portrait

ca. 1647 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Prodigal Son, Salvator Rosa, 1650s

Prodigal Son

1650s · State Hermitage Museum

Bataille héroïque (La Bataille d'Eurymédon), Rosa, Salvator, Milieu du XVIIe siècle (1652)

Bataille héroïque (La Bataille d'Eurymédon)

mid 17th century (1652) · Musée du Louvre

Paysage rocheux avec un chasseur et des guerriers, Rosa, Salvator, 3e quart du XVIIe siècle (1652)

Paysage rocheux avec un chasseur et des guerriers

third quarter of the 17th century (1652) · Musée du Louvre

Bandits on a Rocky Coast, Salvator Rosa, 1655–60

Bandits on a Rocky Coast

1655–60 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Dream of Aeneas, Salvator Rosa, 1660–65

The Dream of Aeneas

1660–65 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Democritus and Protagoras, Salvator Rosa, 1663

Democritus and Protagoras

1663 · State Hermitage Museum

Odysseus and Nausicaa (Ulysses and Nausicaa), Salvator Rosa, 1663

Odysseus and Nausicaa (Ulysses and Nausicaa)

1663 · State Hermitage Museum

In the same room · Gallery 209, Art Institute of Chicago

Museum page
Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, Nicolas Poussin, 1640

Nicolas Poussin

Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, 1640

Panthea, Cyrus, and Araspas, Laurent de La Hyre, 1631-34

Laurent de La Hire

Panthea, Cyrus, and Araspas, 1631-34

Meekness, Eustache Le Sueur, 1650

Eustache Le Sueur

Meekness, 1650

View of Delphi with a Procession, Claude Lorrain, 1673

Claude Lorrain

View of Delphi with a Procession, 1673

Bust of Diana, Giuseppe Mazza, c. 1692–93

Giuseppe Mazza

Bust of Diana, c. 1692–93

Polycrates and the Fisherman, Salvator Rosa, 1664

Salvator Rosa

Polycrates and the Fisherman, 1664

Christ Receiving the Children, Sébastien Bourdon, c. 1655

Sébastien Bourdon

Christ Receiving the Children, c. 1655

The Shipwreck, Claude Lorrain, 1638/41

Claude Lorrain

The Shipwreck, 1638/41

On the same theme · Crucifixions

All works on the theme
White Crucifixion, Marc Chagall, 1938

Marc Chagall

White Crucifixion, 1938

Not on view · Art Institute of Chicago

The Crucifixion, Francisco de Zurbarán, 1627

Francisco de Zurbarán

Crucifixion of Christ, 1627

Not on view · Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of a Noblewoman Dressed in Mourning, Jacopo da Empoli, c. 1600

Jacopo da Empoli

Portrait of a Noblewoman Dressed in Mourning, c. 1600

Art Institute of Chicago

Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation, Domenico Theotokópoulos, called El Greco, c. 1595–c. 1600

Domenico Theotokópoulos, called El Greco

Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation, c. 1595–c. 1600

Art Institute of Chicago

Crucifix, Master of the Bigallo Crucifix, 1230/40

Master of the Bigallo Crucifix

Crucifix, 1230/40

Art Institute of Chicago

Retable and Frontal of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, Spanish, 1396

Spanish

Retable and Frontal of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, 1396

Art Institute of Chicago

Triptych with Scenes from the Life of Christ, German, 1350/75

German

Triptych with Scenes from the Life of Christ, 1350/75

Art Institute of Chicago

Processional Cross with Saint Mary Magdalene and a Blessed Hermit, Lorenzo Monaco, 1392/95

Lorenzo Monaco

Processional Cross with Saint Mary Magdalene and a Blessed Hermit, 1392/95

Art Institute of Chicago