Landscape with Saint Rosalia of Palermo
1634 - 1639. Oil on canvas. Not on displayThe painting entered the Museum as an original by Jan Both, and it is recorded as such in subsequent inventories and catalogues until the edition of 1976. Further, up until 1972 it is described in the Museum publications as the companion piece to Landscape with Carthusian (Saint Bruno)? (P02064) and Landscape with Saint Benedict of Nursia (P02065). In 1959 Blunt identifies it as the landscape described in the Buen Retiro inventory and maintains the attribution to Jan Both, as does Roethlisberger (1961). Waddingham (1960) ascribes it to Van Swanevelt, while Burke (1976) refers to it as an anonymous work. Valdivieso (1973), Luna (1984) and Barghahn (1986) back the attribution to Van Swanevelt, which is officially adopted by the Museum in the last general inventory (1990) and is currently supported by Galera Mendoza (2001), Capitelli (2005) and Steland (forthcoming).
The compositional structure of this picture differs from that of the two previous landscapes. Here the space does not open out towards the background in the centre but on the right side. In addition, the horizontality that characterises Van Swanevelt`s Roman landscapes is broken by the diagonal line of the rocks in the foreground before which the saint kneels. Steland sees a connection between the composition of the present work and that of Landscape with Balaam and the Angel (private collection) signed and dated by the painter ROMA 1633, and also Juno attacking Callisto transformed into a Bear, one of the overwindow pictures executed by Van Swanevelt around 1635 for the Galleria Barberini (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d`Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini).
The breakdown of the earth pigments prevents the work from being properly assessed and it is therefore not possible to reach a definite conclusion about its authorship. The saint is shown kneeling before some rocks by a river, engraving her name in the book held by an angel. The river area is all but missing, as is the rocky outcrop covered in vegetation and with cascades. Even so, the handling of the rocks and the leaves seems characteristic of Van Swanevelt. Furthermore, the X-ray image reveals that the clouds and background mountains are constructed in a very similar way to those in the previous two landscapes. It should be pointed out that the motif of rocky formations with waterfalls is found in various drawings attributed to Van Swanevelt, as in, for example, View of a Cascade, inscribed Herman d`italie.
Here too the authorship of the figures has been greatly debated. The X-ray image shows that they are superimposed. Moreover, they are not of the same type as Van Swanevelt`s figures. Steland believes they may have been executed by Michelangelo Cerquozzi (1602-1660) and relates them to those in Garden Party with Roman Artists (Kassel, Gemäldegallerie Alte Meister, inv. gk 554). Nicola Spinosa, on the other hand, has stated that they may be the work of Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), who had recently arrived in Rome (Text drawn from Posada Kubissa, T.: Pintura holandesa en el Museo Nacional del Prado. Catálogo razonado, 2009, p. 329).