Tasso, reading his poems to prinzess Elemore d' Este

Tasso Reading His Poems to Princess Eleonore d'Este of 1865 subjects one of the most celebrated episodes in Renaissance literary history to Makart's characteristic historicist treatment. Torquato Tasso, author of Jerusalem Delivered, was associated with a romanticized biography of unrequited love for the Princess Leonora d'Este that captivated Romantic-era writers from Goethe to Byron, making the poet-princess encounter a staple of nineteenth-century literary history painting. Makart's treatment belongs to the broader European taste for Romantic literary-historical subjects that animated painters like Paul Delaroche and Lawrence Alma-Tadema. The Federal Republic of Germany's collection holds this early Makart work as part of its holdings of formerly Nazi-acquired art. The subject allowed Makart to combine rich Renaissance costume, intimate literary gathering, and the dynamics of artistic genius and aristocratic patronage — all themes that resonated with the cultural self-understanding of the nineteenth-century bourgeoisie.

The composition centers on the act of reading aloud — a social ritual that requires Makart to render attentive listening in multiple figures simultaneously. The contrast between Tasso's animated posture as reader and the Princess's receptive listening creates the compositional and emotional center of the work. Warm candlelight or firelight suggests the intimate indoor setting of a private literary gathering, giving Makart an atmospheric challenge he addresses through his characteristic warm tonal palette.