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Rinaldo and Armida in the Enchanted Garden
(Renaissance Europe )
In 1581, the Italian poet Tarquinato Tasso published Gerusaleme Liberata (Jerusalem Liberated), an instantly popular epic poem based on one of the crusades by Christians to retake the Holy Land. It was written as a romantic fantasy, recounting Satan's efforts to create obstacles for the heroic Christian knights, particularly the noble Rinaldo. The beautiful sorceress Armida enticed Rinaldo to enter the lush garden of her castle. There she keeps him besotted with sensual pleasures. He holds her "crystal mirror" up to her face but declares that her worth and beauty are more perfectly "painted in my heart."
The episode is treated by Soens as a tender moment, but in the poem it is clear that Rinaldo, "drunk with ease," has lost his moral compass. His comrades burst in and show him a "pure and precious" polished shield in which he sees his "wanton habits." Ashamed, he abandons Armida to return to the battle.
Soens worked in Antwerp and Rome before becoming court painter to the Farnese grand dukes in Parma, where Tasso's poem was published.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1980 | Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Examination | examined for condition | |
| 1/1/1900 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 8/1/1939 | Treatment | coated; other |
| 12/10/1942 | Treatment | coated; cleaned; loss compensation |
| 12/19/1942 | Treatment | coated; inpainted; lined; loss compensation; stabilized; varnish removed or reduced |
| 11/24/1961 | Treatment | stabilized; loss compensation |
| 1/15/1962 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; coated |
| 5/8/1973 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 11/1/1976 | Examination | examined for catalogue |
| 9/26/1984 | Treatment | loss compensation; coated; other |
| 1/8/1993 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 1/29/1993 | Technical Report | examined for technical study |
Geographies
Italy, Parma
(Place of Origin)
Belgium, Antwerp (Place of Origin)
Measurements
18 1/4 x 14 1/8 in. (46.3 x 35.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.356