Shepherd Sitting on a Mound

1640–1649

Florentine Period at the Medici Court

After scandalous quarrels with Bernini and his failure to gain admission to the Accademia di San Luca, he moved to Florence at the invitation of Giovanni Carlo de' Medici, where he remained until 1649.

1640s

Founding of the Accademia dei Percossi in Florence

In Florence he founded the Accademia dei Percossi — a combination of studio and salon of poets, playwrights, and painters, where satires and comedies were read at dinners.

1640s

The Satires "Music," "Poetry," "Painting," and "War"

While staying with the Maffei brothers in Volterra, he wrote four satires — Music, Poetry, Painting, and War; at the same time he painted the picture Philosophy (now in the National Gallery, London).

1650

Return to Rome, Seclusion

He returned to Rome, kept to himself, and accepted no commissions, devoting himself to battle scenes and enigmatic landscapes, which he sold through his friend, the banker Carlo de Rossi.

1650s

Scandal over the "Allegory of Fortune"

The painting Allegory of Fortune provoked a storm of indignation among the religious and secular authorities, who saw in it a satire on themselves; Rosa came close to arrest and published a text offering innocuous interpretations of its imagery.

1656

Plague in Naples: Death of His Son and Relatives

Under pressure from his enemies in Rome, he sent Lucrezia and his son Rosalvo to relatives in Naples; the plague epidemic that broke out claimed the lives of Rosalvo, his brother, his sister, his brother-in-law, and their children — Lucrezia survived and returned to Rome alone.