About this artwork
Just as the Giants—Gaia’s offspring—attempt to storm the throne of the Olympian gods, Jupiter brings them crashing down with a thunderbolt. He can be seen at the top in the clouds. Salvator Rosa executed this colossal composition at the pinnacle of his etching career, and dedicated it to the Florentine poet Horatio Quaranta. Rosa’s pessimistic admonition appears at the bottom of the sheet: “They are raised up high that they may be hurled down in more terrible ruin.”
Multitalented with boundless energy, Rosa was also a poet, actor, musician, and painter. He made this print to promote his ideas for a painting of the same subject in hopes that a patron would sponsor its execution.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Salvator Rosa
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Title
- The Fall of the Giants
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Place
- Italy (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 1663
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Medium
- Etching with drypoint in black on ivory laid paper
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Dimensions
- 72.8 × 47.4 cm (28 11/16 × 18 11/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection
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Reference Number
- 1887.249
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/16/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
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