Armida Abandoned by Rinaldo
1742/45
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
186.7 × 259.4 cm (73 1/2 × 102 1/8 in.); Framed: 195 × 270.5 × 9.5 cm (76 3/4 × 106 1/2 × 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
16492
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The third scene from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s four-part suite of decorations, this painting shows the emotional climax of the story. The knight Rinaldo has been persuaded by his companions, Carlo and Ubaldo, to renounce the love of the sorceress Armida. Bareheaded and pensive, Rinaldo has taken up his shield again and appears to hesitate as the older knights gesture toward the boat that will carry them back to the crusader army and Armida implores him to stay.
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · 1696–1770
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) stands as the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, a Venetian master whose luminous frescoes and dynamic compositions defined the Rococo era's aesthetic zenith. Born in Venice on March 5, 1696, to a modest shipping merchant family, Tiepolo's extraordinary talent transcended his humble origins to establish him as the most sought-after artis...