Domenichino, actually Domenico Zampieri (after), Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's Enchanted Garden, Baroque Italy, Circa 1700, Mythology

Domenichino, actually Domenico Zampieri (after)
Bologna 1581 – 1641 Naples

Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's Enchanted Garden, Circa 1700

Oil on canvas (relined)
Size: 80 x 138 cm
Frame: 115 x 173 cm

The painting is in very good condition for its age. The painting was restored and relined in the 19th century. According to the previous owner, it was cleaned and, because the canvas was brittle at the edges, relined again at the edges (see pictures).

Written confirmation of authenticity and age

Provenance: from an old winery in the Rheingau region, owned there for generations.

Domenichino was an Italian painter and fresco artist of the Bolognese school who worked mainly in Rome and its surroundings and in Naples. Alongside Guido Reni, he was an important representative of Baroque classicism.
Domenichino was the most respected artist in Rome in the second and third decades of the 17th century after Reni's departure, and after 1620 alongside Lanfranco. Domenichino's classical style was inspired primarily by Annibale Carracci and Raphael's Stanze in the Vatican, as well as by his study of antiquity. In contrast to Reni, he combined this with a certain loveliness and sweetness in his female, child, and angel figures, for which he drew inspiration from Correggio and Parmigianino. However, he did not adopt Correggio's sfumato technique; Domenichino's drawing is clearer and his use of color is more reminiscent of the Venetian school, especially Titian. His style always exudes a certain naturalness, especially in his frescoes, even if his figures sometimes appear somewhat rigid. Towards the end of the 1620s, and even more so in his works in the Cappella del Tesoro in Naples, a shift towards the more dynamic Baroque style becomes noticeable.
His greatest strength lay in the idyllic landscapes inspired by Annibale Carracci, which are populated by mostly religious or mythological figures. His landscapes had a direct influence on younger artists such as Claude Lorrain and Gaspar Dughet; Nicolas Poussin, who also owed him a great deal, was among Domenichino's admirers.
The many commissions and Domenichino's notoriously slow pace of work made it increasingly necessary to enlist the help of his workshop, including Antonio Barbalonga from Messina, whose hand could be identified in the decoration of the Cappella Merenda in Santa Maria della Vittoria and in St. Francis in Ecstasy in Santa Maria della Concezione.