Angelica and Medoro

Curatorial Overview

“The canvas illustrates a passage from Ludovico Ariosto's (1474–1533) epic poem Orlando Furioso (XIX:36), in which the two lovers engrave their names in the bark of a tree. Because the painting's surface is worn, the letters are no longer visible. In the early 1630s Blanchard decorated the galleries of private houses in Paris with series of narrative painting such as this. The soft lighting and languid nudity suggest the influence of sixteenth-century Venetian painting.”