Rinaldo and Armida

This painting, a study for a much larger canvas, illustrates a moment in Jerusalem Delivered, an epic fantasy poem written in 1575 and first published in 1581 by Torquato Tasso. The poem’s action is set during the first crusade (1096–99), when Christians waged war on Muslims and Jews in the eastern Mediterranean in order to take control of Jerusalem. In this scene, the Christian knight Rinaldo, the hero, has been drawn into the garden of the Muslim enchantress Armida, who will attempt to keep him from returning to his comrades. In the center, the mischievous cupid holding the hero’s helmet calls attention to Rinaldo’s transformation from warrior to forlorn lover. Two of Rinaldo’s comrades are spying on the couple. They will later persuade Rinaldo to return to battle. The romantic appeal of this scene, focused on the tension of lovers from opposing sides, made it popular with European artists and audiences well into the 1800s.
The fluid brushwork, flickering lights, and luminescent colors are characteristic of Rocca’s paintings. The lightness, wit, and eroticism are all features that link the Italian artist to the French style known as Rococo.

For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 400, pp. 511-512.

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 [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; [1881 catalogue: no. 301; 1897 catalogue: no. 784, as François Boucher]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.