École Européene (XVIII) - Rinaldo et Armide

- Oil on canvas. Old canvas re-lined and restored in the mid-20th century.

This work, an oil on canvas by a European school dating to the mid-18th century, represents a sophisticated exercise in Baroque revival that integrates the formal lessons of the Seicento through the lens of late refinement. The composition is organized around a truncated pyramidal structure to stage a key moment from Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata: the apparition of the sorceress Armida before the knight Rinaldo on the battlefield. The iconographic core of the painting lies in the dialectic of the gaze established through an octagonal mirror, supported by a choir of cherubs with nacreous flesh. This object functions as a metapoetic artifact where the octagon, a symbol of transition, acts as the threshold of seduction in which Rinaldo loses his martial identity, linking the tradition of Baroque vanitas with an instrument of psychological captivity that nullifies heroic will.

As for the physiognomy and attire, the gentleman presents himself in a posture of astonishment and submission, kneeling before the supernatural presence and stripped of his spear, which lies in the foreground as a metaphor for the soul's vulnerability before eros. His armor, executed with a technical patina and luminous reflections of Venetian provenance, generates a violent contrast with the ethereal figure of Armida, who appears suspended in a glory of clouds. She is wrapped in garments of white iridescence, whose mimed agitation reinforces her mastery over the elements and her magical nature.

Finally, stylistic contextualization reveals that, although the piece retains the robustness and the dramatic chiaroscuro inherited from the Rubens and Pietro da Cortona tradition, a transition toward Rococo is already perceived in the smoothness of tonal transitions and the softening of the features. The expected war scene in the background is sacrificed in favor of an intimate, enveloping darkness.

- Image dimensions without frame: 95 x 63 cm / 113 x 81.5 cm with an exclusive custom-made frame.

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The visual descriptions and presentations of the artworks included in our catalog are solely intended to provide a general, aesthetic, and narrative overview of the pieces that make up the Montbaron Gallery collection. Art, by its material nature, may display color nuances or textures that vary depending on lighting or the user's screen settings. Additionally, it is noted that the indicated dimensions may have slight physical variations inherent to the framing process or the original support. For precise consultation, collectors are kindly asked to refer exclusively to the detailed technical sheet accompanying each artwork, where all technical information, certified measurements, and the condition of the piece are specified exactly.