Rinaldo and Armida in Her Garden

In this second of the four large paintings from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s sequence illustrating the story of the crusader Rinaldo and the sorceress Armida, Armida has abducted Rinaldo and carried him away to her magical garden. She looks into a magic mirror while the knight sits enthralled, gazing into her eyes, his sword and shield cast aside. Meanwhile, Rinaldo’s two companions, Carlo and Ubaldo, appear at the garden gate to persuade him to return to their quest to seize control of Jerusalem.