Rinaldo and Armida in the garden. Rinaldo and Armida - bubligum9000 — LiveJournal

Rinaldo and Armida (c. 1630), Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

In the late 1620s and early 1630s, Poussin painted several paintings based on the famous epic poem "Jerusalem Liberated" by the great Torquato Tasso. First published in 1580-81, this poem immediately attracted the attention of many artists, who saw in it an inexhaustible reservoir of dramatic subjects for their work. The poem talks about the battle for Jerusalem between Christians and Saracens during the First Crusade which took place at the end of the 11th century. In addition to the actual battles and details of military life, several love stories are interspersed into the poem. One of them tells the story of the Christian knight Rinaldo and the beautiful Armida, who was a sorceress and river nymph who fought on the side of the Saracens. Rinaldo lies immersed in a witch's sleep. He is defenseless before Armida, and she can easily fulfill her plan - to kill the young man. But the nymph, seeing Rinaldo’s beautiful face, was inflamed with passion for her enemy and did not dare to use her dagger. This is one of Poussin's most poetic paintings, distinguished by its rich color and surprisingly free manner. Unfortunately, we do not know the name of the customer for this painting. The history of its creation remains a mystery - it was first discovered only in 1804.

The painting "Rinaldo and Armida" dates back to the early 1630s. This period of Poussin’s work bears the stamp of his deep passion for the art of Titian, which had a great influence on the master’s artistic talent.
The plot of “Rinaldo and Armida” was borrowed by Poussin from Tasso’s famous poem “Jerusalem Liberated,” which was published in 1580-1581. During the period described, Poussin repeatedly turned to the famous text, as evidenced by his other masterpiece “Tancred and Erminia”, stored in the Hermitage, or other versions of “Rinaldo and Armida”, located in Berlin and in the Dulich Gallery in England.

It is noteworthy that Poussin chooses precisely love and lyrical scenes from Tasso’s works, passing by epic and heroic episodes. The painting depicts the moment when the sorceress Armida, personifying the forces opposing the Christian knights, leans towards the sleeping Rinaldo to kill him, but stops, struck by his beauty, which ignites love in her heart? As always with Poussin, we see a deeply thought-out composition, where the action taking place and the relationships between characters are embodied with utmost clarity in the choice of figures, in their grouping, in the combination of shapes and lines. The main characters are accompanied by playful little cupids, playing with the armor of a carelessly asleep knight. On the right, in the foreground, is the allegorical figure of the river deity, lulling the knight with the murmur of water jets, and in the depths is the golden chariot of Armida and her white horses, ready to rush Rinaldo through the clouds into the enchanted gardens of the sorceress. The main content of this work by Poussin is a feeling of love, filled with the most sublime poetry. The beautiful appearance of the main characters, their detachment from the rest of the world, the element of magical fairytale in their surroundings - all this enhances the emotional sound of the entire presented scene, but the main role here is played by the color with its jubilant combination of blue, red and yellow flowers. The classicism of Poussin in Rinaldo and Armide appears to us full of living human feeling, captivating the viewer with the beauty and high lyricism of the concept and the beauty of execution. The painting was taken to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in 1930 from the State Hermitage.

Poussin said: “The theme must be noble... the content and plot must be majestic...” Poussin was attracted by heroic deeds, “sublime passions,” something that could serve as an example of moral standards; he wanted to create an image of an ideally beautiful world, where a harmonious person reigns, perfect in body and spirit.

The composition “Rinaldo and Armida” (1630) belongs to the most remarkable works of the museum collection. The plot is taken from the poem “Jerusalem Liberated” by the 16th century Italian poet Torquato Tasso. One of the episodes tells how the sorceress Armida, in whose possession Rinaldo found himself, wanted to kill the knight, but, captivated by his beauty, fell in love with the young man and took him to her gardens. The main theme is the power, the greatness of feeling; and love, in which the best qualities of a person are revealed, equated by Poussin with a heroic, noble act.

Together with the heroes, we are transported into the world of poetry and enchanting beauty. The heroes are beautiful, they look like ancient sculptures. In the figure of Armida, bending over the sleeping Rinaldo, there is a rush of admiration and tenderness. The servant girls walk lightly in the clouds and we admire the flexibility and slenderness of their bodies. The sun pours light on the lovely cupids merrily playing with the knight's armor. The River Deity reclines majestically - in the right bottom corner paintings.

Armida is a villain, but we don’t see this at all, her face is so beautiful and not a single line emphasizes her evil intentions.

Three groups of participants in the composition are inscribed in rectangles, and all together - in a pyramid. Armida leaned over Rinaldo, admiring his beauty and thought that it would be nice to rush away with him. She is a sorceress and her thoughts are fulfilled immediately - a chariot appears in the clouds, ready to carry Armida with her lover - this is the third group.
The construction of the composition here is also thought out to the smallest detail. The chariot that appears in the clouds does not fly anywhere and will not fly away, it will remain within the framework of the picture. The column on the right stops her movement. Visually, the chariot will continue to spin at the top of the canvas.

The figure of the old man was clearly redrawn from an ancient statue - his body with all its muscles is so powerfully written.
Here again the same color scheme is visible, the flow of the same colors, their repetition in all groups, Poussin’s blue, red, gold. This color scheme sounds most strongly in the group of main characters and is muted in the rest of the picture. The color seems to be filled with the jubilant happiness of the passionate feeling that awakened in Armida. In other parts of the composition, color plays along with the main characters.

At the same time, Poussin interprets this plot quite freely. It is known that in fact there should only be one cupid, or cupid. There are several of them here. And the Deity of Water is introduced into the composition so that we recognize the scene of action - the Aron River.

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