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Oil on canvas
70 cm diameter
One of the leading figures of the Italian Baroque in the first half of the 17th century, Giovanni Lanfranco trained first with Agostino Carracci in Parma and later in Rome under Annibale Carracci, whose influence proved decisive. After a brief return to Emilia, where he absorbed Correggio’s example, he forged a highly successful career between Rome and Naples, executing major fresco cycles and altarpieces alongside more intimate cabinet paintings. His ability to fuse Carraccesque classicism with luminous colour and dynamic movement secured him a prominent place among his contemporaries.
This tondo illustrates the episode of Angelica and Medoro from Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, a pivotal turning point in the poem. The composition is a reduced and stylistically distinct variant of the large canvas in the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, long associated with Lanfranco and linked to a documented commission of 1634. In contrast to the more strongly chiaroscuroed Brazilian version, the present work privileges bright chromatic harmonies and a fluid painterly handling that lend the scene immediacy and vitality.
The loose brushwork, the delicate rendering of drapery, and the expressive modelling of the figures find close parallels in small-scale works from the artist’s mature phase.
One of the leading figures of the Italian Baroque in the first half of the 17th century, Giovanni Lanfranco trained first with Agostino Carracci in Parma and later in Rome under Annibale Carracci, whose influence proved decisive. After a brief return to Emilia, where he absorbed Correggio’s example, he forged a highly successful career between Rome and Naples, executing major fresco cycles and altarpieces alongside more intimate cabinet paintings. His ability to fuse Carraccesque classicism with luminous colour and dynamic movement secured him a prominent place among his contemporaries.
This tondo illustrates the episode of Angelica and Medoro from Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, a pivotal turning point in the poem. The composition is a reduced and stylistically distinct variant of the large canvas in the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, long associated with Lanfranco and linked to a documented commission of 1634. In contrast to the more strongly chiaroscuroed Brazilian version, the present work privileges bright chromatic harmonies and a fluid painterly handling that lend the scene immediacy and vitality.
The loose brushwork, the delicate rendering of drapery, and the expressive modelling of the figures find close parallels in small-scale works from the artist’s mature phase.
