Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain04cham).pdf/94
ROSSITER, THOMAS P., born in New Haven, Conn., Sept. 29, 1818, died at Cold Spring, N. Y., May 17, 1871. History painter, pupil of Nathaniel Jocelyn; went to Europe in 1840 and studied in London and Paris. In 1841-46 he painted in Rome, and sketched in Switzerland, Italy, and Germany; visited Europe again in 1853, and painted three years in Paris. Professional life in the United States spent in New York and at Cold Spring. Elected an A.N.A. in 1840, and N.A. in 1849. Gold medal, Paris, 1855. Works: Last Hours of Tasso; Italy in the Olden Time; Miriam; Return of the Dove to the Ark; Jews in Captivity; Joan of Arc in Prison, Puritan's Daughter, R. L. Stuart, New York; Wise and Foolish Virgins; Venice; Noah; Representative Merchants; Coming from the Fields; Palmy Days at Mt. Vernon; Washington's First Cabinet; Life of Christ (series of pictures); Rebekah at the Well, Corcoran Gallery, Washington.—Tuckerman, 435.
ROSSO, IL, or ROSSO DE' ROSSI,
born in Florence,
March 8, 1494,
died at Fontainebleau,
France,
1541. Florentine
school; real name
Giovanni Battista
di Jacopo di Guasparre,
but commonly
called by
the Italians Il
Rosso, and by the French, Maître Roux de
Roux, which would seem to show that Roux
was his family name, and not a surname
given to him because his hair was red.
Imitator of Andrea del Sarto and of Michelangelo.
After painting frescos in Florence
he went to Rome and worked there several
years, until obliged to leave on the capture
of the city by the Constable de Bourbon
(1527). About 1531 he went to Paris, at
the invitation of Francis I., who made him
court painter, and employed him to direct
the decoration of the great gallery in the
Palace of Fontainebleau. His large salary
enabled him to live in luxury, and his good
address and polished manners made him a
favourite at court Having unjustly accused
his friend and assistant, Francesco di Pellegrino,
of stealing money from him, and
caused him to be put to the torture, Il
Rosso poisoned himself to escape dishonour.
All his works at Fontainebleau have
disappeared. Among his pictures are: Entombment,
Contest between Muses and Pierides,
Louvre; Madonna with Saints, Palazzo
Pitti, Florence; Assumption, SS. Annunziata,
Florence; Marriage of the Virgin, S.
Lorenzo, ib.; Venus, Ceres, Pluto, Diana,
Zeus, Oldenburg Gallery; Madonna with
Angels, Hermitage, St. Petersburg.—Vasari,
ed. Le Mon., ix. 67; ed. Mil., v. 155;
Burckhardt, 636, 640; Ch. Blanc, École
florentine; Mündler, Essai, 187.
ROTARI, PIETRO, Conte, born in Verona
in 1707, died in St. Petersburg in
1770 (?). Pupil in Verona of Balestra, in
Rome of Trevisani (1728-31), and in Naples
of Solimena, whose manner he followed.
Venetian school; painted with much success
at courts of Dresden and Vienna, and
in 1750 became court painter to the Empress
Elizabeth of Russia. At Peterhoff is
a collection of 663 female portraits made
by him for Catharine II. during a journey
through the Russian provinces. Other works:
Annunciation, Guastella; Repose in Egypt,
St. James, St. Francis, Magdalen, and two
portraits, Dresden Gallery; Young Girl
Weeping, do. Asleep, Old Pinakothek, Munich;
Two Portraits, Schleissheim Gallery.—Lanzi,
ii. 310; Ch. Blanc, École vénitienne.
ROTHERMEL, PETER F., born in Luzerne
County, Pa., July 8, 1817. History
painter; began painting portraits without
tuition in 1840, in 1856 visited Europe, and
has since lived and painted in Philadelphia;
is an associate of the Pennsylvania Academy.
Works: St. Agnes (1858); Foscari; Columbus
before Isabella; Cromwell breaking up