The Companions of Rinaldo
Nicolas Poussin·1633
Historical Context
The Companions of Rinaldo from 1633 at the Metropolitan Museum depicts a scene from Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered where Rinaldo's fellow Crusaders, sent to find their enchanted comrade, are briefly seduced by the pleasures of Armida's enchanted island before recovering their purpose. Poussin's engagement with Tasso's epic provided material for classical narrative painting throughout his career, and the moral dimension of this scene — the knights tempted by pleasure before virtue reasserts itself — suited his philosophical interest in the conflict between appetite and reason. The scene of men delayed by beauty and pleasure before duty calls them back was a classical moral theme as old as Odysseus's encounters with Circe and Calypso, and Poussin would have read Tasso through this Homeric lens. His mythological narratives balance archaeological fidelity with poetic feeling, setting heroic figures within carefully constructed landscapes. The Metropolitan Museum holds this as a significant example of Poussin's Tasso subjects.
Technical Analysis
The composition arranges the Crusader knights within a classical landscape. Poussin's handling combines literary narrative with classical compositional order.
Look Closer
- ◆The two companions' postures convey a momentary pause — they gesture toward each other in discussion before the enchantment of the island claims them.
- ◆Armida's garden is suggested by an unusually lush and improbably verdant landscape, more saturated in color than Poussin's typical classical settings.
- ◆The garments of the figures are rendered in clear primary and secondary hues, Poussin's color coding helping the viewer identify narrative roles.
- ◆A reflective pool in the middle ground mirrors the sky in perfect stillness, contrasting with the animated foreground figures to create depth.
