55 - 18TH-CENTURY FLEMISH PAINTER

18TH-CENTURY FLEMISH PAINTER AFTER NICOLAS POUSSIN (1594–1665) ARMIDA KIDNAPS THE SLEEPING RINALDO Oil on parquet-paneled wood, 65 x 50 cm. Carved and gilded wooden frame, 18th century. The painting depicts the famous episode from Torquato Tasso’s *Jerusalem Delivered* in which the sorceress Armida, captivated by the beauty of the sleeping Rinaldo, refrains from killing him and decides to take him with her. The composition is based on the famous painting by Nicolas Poussin, *Armida Abducts the Sleeping Rinaldo*, painted in 1637 and now housed at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Poussin’s model is echoed in the arrangement of the figures, the cherubs surrounding Rinaldo, the river deity on the right, and the abandoned weapons in the foreground. This panel, attributable to the 18th-century Flemish school, attests to the popularity of Poussin’s classicist models in Northern Europe. The composition is distinguished by its decorative character, the soft landscape setting, and a color palette dominated by greens, browns, and ochres, enlivened by the figures’ skin tones and garments. CONDITION REPORT Panel reinforced with parquet on the reverse. A line of paint restoration corresponding to the horizontal center of the painting slightly affects Armida’s face, the background, and the face of the figure at the far right.