1615-1673. Italian painter, etcher, poet, and
musician, active in Florence 1640-49 and
subsequently in Rome. He created wild,
romantic, and sometimes macabre landscapes,
seascapes, and battle scenes. He also wrote
verse satires. Born near Naples, Rosa spent
much of his youth travelling in S Italy. He
first settled in Rome in 1639 and established
himself as a landscape painter. In Florence
he worked for the ruling Medici family.