''Allegory of Fortune'', sometimes also named ''La Fortuna'', is an oil painting on canvas featuring the Roman goddess of fortune, Fortuna, that was created c. 1658 or 1659 by the Italian baroque painter

Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th ...

. The painting caused uproar when first exhibited publicly and almost got the painter jailed and excommunicated. Bearing initials but undated, it measures . Rosa was known for his landscape paintings, but also worked in the sphere of mythology,

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

, portraits, and satire. Since 1978 it has been in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California.

Background

The painting was made at much the same time as Rosa penned ''Babilonia'', a satirical condemnation of the papal court. According to art critic

Brian Sewell Brian Alfred Christopher Bushell Sewell (; 15 July 1931 – 19 September 2015) was an English art critic. He wrote for the ''Evening Standard'' and had an acerbic view of conceptual art and the Turner Prize. ''The Guardian'' described him as " ...

, the target of the satirical painting could not be misinterpreted. Rosa's friends warned him after viewing it privately, that the painting should not be displayed openly as it was a satirical attack on

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

's patronage. In 1659, the painting was exhibited at the

Pantheon, Rome The Pantheon (, ; la, Pantheum,Although the spelling ''Pantheon'' is standard in English, only ''Pantheum'' is found in classical Latin; see, for example, Pliny, '' Natural History'36.38 "Agrippas Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis". Se ...

, which almost resulted in Rosa being jailed and

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

. Only the intervention of the pope's brother, Don Marco Chigi, saved him from this humiliation. Eventually, Rosa was convinced of the need to offer an explanation of the picture; he did this under the rubric of ''Manifesto'' and, according to art writer James Elmes, "proved that his hogs were not churchmen, his mules pretending pedants, his asses Roman nobles, and his birds and beasts of prey, the reigning despots of Italy." An earlier painting of Fortune was undertaken by Rosa during the 1640s.

Description

The overall dimensions of the undated oil on canvas are wide; the initials "SR" inscribed on the book at the lower left represent the signature of the artist. The painting, sometimes referred to as ''La Fortuna'', depicts Fortuna, the goddess of fortune and personification of

luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

, pouring her gifts on an array of undeserving animals. Traditionally Fortuna has her eyes covered and the vessel containing her favours, the horn of plenty or Cornucopia, is shown in an upright position; Rosa has reversed this tradition in his rendition and portrays Fortuna completely acquainted with where and on whom she is bestowing her gifts from the upended cornucopia. Gemstones, coronets, a sceptre, gold coins, pearls, roses, together with grapes, cereal, and berries flow from the cornucopia onto the animals below. In turn the animals are stamping on the symbols of education, the

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

s, and knowledge. The donkey, the symbol of the pope, wearing a cardinal's red and gold coat as a drapery, is suppressing and casting a shadow on an owl, used here as the symbol for

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...

. The painting is expressing the artist's feelings of bitterness about the fact he lost the papal patronage, and thus Rosa included personal references: a rose signifies Rosa's name; a

palette Palette may refer to: * Cosmetic palette, an archaeological form * Palette, another name for a color scheme * Palette (painting), a wooden board used for mixing colors for a painting ** Palette knife, an implement for painting * Palette (company), ...

is placed on the book, and the book carries his initials. A pig stepping on a rose also symbolizes the same thing.

Exhibitions and provenance

After being displayed in 1659, the painting was acquired by Carlo de Rossi and on his death in around 1683 became the property of Antonio Vallori. It moved from Italy to England after Vallori sold it to Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort in 1727 for six hundred

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...

. The duke was completing a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

and purchased two Rosa paintings, the other one entitled, ''Nursing of Jupiter''. Passed down by inheritance, the Fortune painting remained in the possession of the various Dukes of Beaufort until sold by the tenth duke in 1957, when it was purchased by the Marlborough Gallery. It was acquired by

J. Paul Getty Jean Paul Getty Sr. (; December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American-born British petroleum industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and was the patriarch of the Getty family. A native of Minneapolis, he was the son of pi ...

from the gallery in 1971. Until it passed to the Getty Museum in 1978 it was only exhibited three times: from 21 May 1827 at the Bristol Institution; at the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

in 1859; and as part of the J. Paul Getty Collection exhibition in the summer of 1972 at the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

. In the twenty-first century it has been displayed as part of the ''Bandits, Wilderness and Magic'' exhibition firstly at Dulwich Picture Gallery in London during 2010 and at the

Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, wh ...

in Texas from the end of December 2010 to March 2011.

References

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * * * {{Salvator Rosa Paintings by Salvator Rosa 1658 paintings 17th-century allegorical paintings Allegorical paintings by Italian artists Paintings in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum Birds in art Books in art Cattle in art Sheep in art Pigs in art Fortuna Donkeys in art