1744
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Rinaldo and Armida in Her Garden is a 1744 oil by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, a Baroque work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
A knight sits in a lush garden, staring at a woman while his sword lies forgotten. She holds a small mirror, her face lit with a soft glow. Two men peek through the garden gate, watching. This painting tells part of an old story—Armida, a sorceress, has lured the knight Rinaldo away from his duty. The garden feels dreamy, almost too perfect, like a place you’d never want to leave. Tiepolo fills the scene with light and movement, making the magic feel real. If you like how Tiepolo plays with light and shadow, look up *chiaroscuro*.
In this second of the four large paintings from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s sequence illustrating the story of the crusader Rinaldo and the sorceress Armida, Armida has abducted Rinaldo and carried him away to her magical garden. She looks into a magic mirror while the knight sits enthralled, gazing into her eyes, his sword and shield cast aside. Meanwhile, Rinaldo’s two companions, Carlo and Ubaldo, appear at the garden gate to persuade him to return to their quest to seize control of Jerusalem.
Possibly one of four scenes from Tasso made for the 'gabinetto degli specchi' of the Palazzo Corner a San Polo, Venice [according to inventories and other documents discussed by Romanelli 1998]. Count Giovanni Serbelloni, Venice in 1838; by descent, until possibly 1886 [Molmenti 1911 and Knox 1978]. Giulio Cartier, Genoa by 1908 [Malaquzzi Valeri 1908]; Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris, in 1912 [Ojetti 1912]; James Deering (d. 1925), Vizcaya, from 1913 [information sheet in curatorial file]; bequeathed,1925.
Art Institute of Chicago, Century of Progress, June 1 – November 1, 1933, no. 157. Art Institute of Chicago, Century of Progress, June 1 – November 1, 1934, no. 335. Art Institute of Chicago, Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by the two Tiepolos, February 4 – March 6, 1938, no. 7. London, Royal Academy of Arts, The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eighteenth Century, September 13 – December 14, 1994, no. 90; Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, January 29 – April 23, 1995. Venice, Ca' Rezzonico, Giambattista Tiepolo, September 5-December 15, 1996, cat. 17b; New York,…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also known as Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
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