Salvator Rosa

If ever an artist fit the description of Romantic, it's Salvator Rosa. His paintings might date from the 17th century but they would have fit perfectly into the later artistic movement. One painting in particular brought John Martin to mind, while the witches' sabbaths inevitably conjure up Goya. In addition there are bandits and hermits, usually set amid wild landscapes (again, the Romantics would have swooned) and sometimes cocooned in such darkness that it's difficult to distinguish details (this may or may not be intentional ...) Yet the brushwork is vibrant, the vision singular and the overall impression one of strange beauty.