Erminia takes Refuge with the Shepherds

Erminia Takes Refuge with the Shepherds (c. 1602-04), in the National Gallery in London, illustrates an episode from Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata in which the Saracen princess Erminia, fleeing in borrowed armor, finds shelter among humble shepherds. Annibale sets this literary scene in one of his finest ideal landscapes, the luminous natural setting embodying the pastoral peace that Erminia seeks. The contrast between the princess's martial disguise and the shepherds' simple life creates a meditation on nature versus civilization, war versus peace. This painting is a key work in Annibale's development of ideal landscape painting, demonstrating how narrative subjects could be integrated into harmoniously composed natural settings to create a new pictorial genre.

The pastoral landscape opens behind the figures in measured recession, its gentle hills and scattered trees creating an idyllic setting for Erminia's refuge. The contrast between her gleaming armor and the shepherds' rustic dress is handled with attention to the different reflective properties of metal, wool, and skin.