Angelica and the Hermit
Peter Paul Rubens·1620
Historical Context
Rubens painted Angelica and the Hermit around 1620, a scene from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso depicting the beautiful Angelica encountered by a lustful hermit. The subject's combination of classical literary source, female beauty, and moral ambiguity was characteristic of the mythological and literary subjects that Rubens treated with equal facility. Now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the painting demonstrates Rubens's engagement with the Italian literary tradition that he had absorbed during his years on the peninsula.
Technical Analysis
The composition contrasts the luminous beauty of the sleeping Angelica with the coarse features of the hermit. Rubens' masterly flesh painting creates a powerful contrast between youth and age, beauty and ugliness.
Look Closer
- ◆The hermit approaches the sleeping Angelica with predatory intent, his aged, coarsened features contrasting with her youthful beauty
- ◆Angelica sleeps exposed and vulnerable, her luminous flesh painted with Rubens's characteristic sensuous technique
- ◆The rocky wilderness setting creates a sense of isolation and danger, removing Angelica from any possible rescue
- ◆The subject comes from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, a literary source Rubens drew on repeatedly for its combination of sensuality and adventure
Condition & Conservation
This painting from Ariosto's epic has been conserved over the centuries. The canvas has been relined. The contrast between the luminous female figure and the dark surrounding landscape has been preserved through careful cleaning and varnish maintenance.
