Carlo and Ubaldo Resisting the Enchantments of Armida's Nymphs
Francesco Guardi·1750
Historical Context
Guardi's Carlo and Ubaldo Resisting the Enchantments of Armida's Nymphs takes its subject from Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, the epic that provided so many Baroque and Rococo painters with mythological-literary material. Carlo and Ubaldo are sent to rescue Rinaldo from Armida's enchanted garden but must resist the temptations of her nymphs. Guardi treats the literary subject with the same atmospheric looseness he brought to his vedute, the figures dissolving into a shimmering parkland setting.
Technical Analysis
The enchanted garden and its tempting nymphs are rendered with Guardi's characteristically loose, vibrant brushwork, the figures suggested rather than precisely defined. The lush parkland setting is handled with particular atmospheric sensitivity, light and foliage merging in his distinctive calligraphic manner. The two resistant knights stand firm against a visually seductive compositional setting.
