On June 20, 1615, Italian Baroque artist Salvator Rosa was born.
The above painting, “The Frailty of Human Life” (1656), was painted soon after the death of his son, Rosalvo.
In the painting, Death (the skeleton) is directing the child to write on a scroll. The scroll reads “Conceptio Culpa, Nasci Pena, Labor Vita, Necesse Mori”, which means “Conception is a sin, Birth is pain, Life is toil, Death a necessity.” Continue reading