(Bologna 1654–1719) Rinaldo and Armida, pen and brown ink, on laid paper, 9 x 13,5 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

The theme of the present drawing is taken from an episode in Torquato Tasso’s epic Gerusalemme liberate (1574, canto XVI, 17–25). It shows the crusader Rinaldo in the magical garden of the Saracen sorceress Armida. Instead of killing the young man she fell in love with him. Giovan Gioseffo dal Sole dedicated himself several times to the topic and in various paintings. In a painting of upright format which is preserved in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan (Inv. 215, C. Thiem, Giovan Gioseffo dal Sole: dipinti, afreschi, disegni, Bologna 1990, p. 106, Q 23) Rinaldo is holding the mirror in the left hand and Armida is leaning against him and doing her hair with her right hand. Another version of the painting in landscape format is preserved in the Collezioni d’Arte della Casa di Risparmio in Bologna (Thiem 1990, p. 115, Q 32). The present drawing which was originally intended for a square rather than an oval format is closest to the Bologna version and may have been executed in preparation of the painting. The paintings of the Rinaldo and Armida” by Dal Sole show the strong influence of Annibale Carracci’s horizontal version of the theme (c. 1601) in the Museum Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples. Moreover, the motif of the two soldiers, who are observing the scene behind the shrubbery in the right background, may also derive from Annibale.

We are grateful to Nicolas Turner for the scientific support.