Armida has succeeded in causing havoc among the crusaders. As one disaster succeeds another, and with both Tancred and Rinaldo missing, Godfrey is forced to attack Jerusalem.
Crusade
The seductive sorceress Armida is quietly wreaking havoc among the crusaders besieging Jerusalem. Then Erminia leaves the city, in search of her love, the wounded warrior Tancred.
In the first skirmish outside Jerusalem, Tancred meets the beautiful Clorinda and almost kills her before declaring his love. Armida tries to beguile Godfrey with a tale of woe.
The crusaders start their march down the Mediterranean coast towards Jerusalem. Gabriel appears to Godfrey, and a young couple are saved from being burned at the stake by a ‘pagan’ woman knight.
The Crusaders marched quickly down the Mediterranean coast, then turned inland to the Holy City, which they put under siege.
From Pope Urban the Second’s sermon in central France, to the departure from Antioch, an account of this extraordinary war in paintings and engravings.
For over 300 years, the most popular literary source for narrative paintings. This new series will cover the background and tell its story in great paintings.
Poussin was by no means the only artist to paint the narrative of Rinaldo and Armida. Here are many more.
The story behind Poussin’s painting explained, and its narrative techniques revealed.
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