Oil on canvas. Lombard ambit of the late 18th century.The four canvases depict scenes from Orlando Furioso, the famous epic poem written by Ludovico Ariosto and first published in 1516. On the back of the frame are handwritten inscriptions in ancient Italian, which tell the title of the scene and give the reference of the canto and stanza.All four scenes depict episodes from the first two cantos of the poem and appear to be sequential. The attributive titles are as follows:1- "This picture represents that Paladin galiardo (Rinaldo) figliolo di Amone sig. di Monte Albano, which Ariosto describes him in canto 1 at stanza 12" : the moment is depicted when Rinaldo, mounted on his horse Baiardo, spots Angelica in the woods who has fled from the camp of Namo di Baviera.2- "This painting depicts Angelica and Ferrau when she comes to his aid, which Ariosto describes in Canto 1 stanza 14": Angelica fleeing from Rinaldo, meets Ferrau, a noble Saracen knight also in love with the girl, in the woods, who helps her escape by opposing the Christian knight.3- "This painting depicts Rinaldo and Sacripante going down, Angelica fleeing from their fury. Ariosto describes it in Canto 2 stanza 10": Rinaldo and Sacripante fight to contend for Angelica's love, but in the meantime Angelica runs away.4- "This picture rapresents Rinaldo and Sacripante in the act that they were felling for Angelica and are stopped by a spirit in the form of a Valetto. Ariosto describes it in canto 2 stanza 15": while the two knights are fighting, Angelica encounters a hermit, who, with a spell, conjures up a spirit in the form of a valet, who interrupts the duel between the two contenders. The paintings thus belong to a single pictorial cycle, which can be traced back to the late 18th century and which, in accordance with neoclassical taste, depicts the characters in classical garb - the warriors dressed as ancient soldiers, Angelica clad in a Roman woman's tunic, shoehorns and bracelet - but set in a Northern Italian landscape, a shady and dense forest. The Orlando Furioso had the peculiarity of proposing the war theme associated with the love theme (in particular, the love story between Angelica and Medoro was favored, which became the subject of numerous works by artists of all centuries) and achieved great popularity and success: numerous were its representations in all ranges of visual pictorial art, in stately frescoes, paintings, ceramics, even apothecary vases, cups, medals, pendulums, candelabra. It began in the land of Emilia, the land of origin of the poem crafted by Ariosto for Cardinal Ludovico D'Este, and reached the Medici courts, in Lombardy, where later Ariosto's pictorial cycles were made in numerous palaces and stately homes. The canvases are presented in stylish gilded frames.
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