Polycrates and the Fisherman
Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615–1673)
1664
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
This painting and its companion piece recount the story of the Greek king Polycrates, as told by the ancient historian Herodotus. Polycrates, ruler of the island of Samos, worried that he was tempting fate with his great prosperity. He tried to introduce some counterbalancing misfortune into his life by throwing a precious signet ring into the sea, but it was swallowed by a large fish and returned to the king by a fisherman, the episode shown here. Polycrates’s good fortune came to an end when he was entrapped by Oroetus of Sardis and put to death, the event illustrated in Polycrates’ Crucifixion.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 73 × 98.6 cm (28 1/2 × 38 13/16 in.)
Museum record · 4 owners · 8 exhibitions
Provenance
- Bonaventura Argenti (died 1697), Rome; by descent to Argenti’s heirs, Rome 1697 to 1698; consigned for sale to Giuseppe Ghezzi, Rome, about 1698.
- Probably 2nd Earl of Warwick, (Warwick Castle) by 1801.
- Schaeffer Galleries, New York, 1942.
- A. F. Mondschein, New York by 1942; sold to the Art Institute, 1942.
Exhibitions
- New York, Schaeffer Galleries, Gem of Baroque Painting, 1942.
- New York, Durlacher Brothers, A Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Salvator Rosa 1615–1673, 1948.
- Grand Rapids, Michigan, Art Gallery, Old Master from Midwestern Museums, 1948–49.
- Flint, Michigan, Flint Institute of Arts, A Survey from Giotto to the Impressionists, 1949.
- Pasadena, California, Pasadena Art Institute, Baroque Exhbition, 1950.
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, Exhibition of Favorite Italian and Spanish Masters of the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Baroque Era), 1951.
- Wellesley, Massachusetts, Wellesley College Museum, Salvator Rosa in America, 1979.
- London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Salvator Rosa, 1615-1673: Bandits, Wilderness and Magic; Fort Worth, Kimbell Museum of Art, December 12, 2010-March 27, 2011.
