The talented artist Giambattista Tiepolo lived from 1696 to 1770. His art focuses on transposing the world of ancient history and myth. He was an Italian painter and printmaker from the republic of Venice. He also worked in Germany and Spain as well as Italy. His painting “Rinaldo Abandoning Armida” a time during the 11th – 13th centuries in the Crusades(Learning).
This painting depicts Rinaldo during the Crusades who allowed himself to be carried off to an island by the sorceress Armida and stayed away from the fighting. Two warriors were sent to bring him back. They found him in Armida’s enchanted garden. They held up a mirror so that he would see himself and recognize that he needed to return to the battle. When he saw himself in the mirror, he was able to break away from Armida’s love spell to realize that his people needed him and that was what he was meant to do. The mirror sends the message that when one examines oneself aside from their lover, one will come to the realization that they aren’t completely dependent on them as they had previously thought. So he abandons his love and returns to fight. Tiepolo divided the painting with the trunk of a tree showing the separation of the two lovers. Armida is begging him not to leave; nevertheless Rinaldo departs to the ship waiting for him in the background. In his depiction of Rinaldo’s struggle to overcome the charms of Armida and fulfill his mission to save the Holy Land, Tiepolo emphasized the conflict between love and duty.
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