Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s work epitomizes the brilliant exuberance of the Late Baroque style. Internationally renowned, Tiepolo was often commissioned to transform palaces and monasteries in Venice and elsewhere in Italy, as well as in Germany and Spain. This painting and three others at the Art Institute once graced the cabinet of mirrors, a richly decorated room in the Venetian palace of the powerful Cornaro family.

Armida Encounters the Sleeping Rinaldo

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s work epitomizes the brilliant exuberance of the Late Baroque style. Internationally renowned, Tiepolo was often commissioned to transform palaces and monasteries in Venice and elsewhere in Italy, as well as in Germany and Spain. This painting and three others at the Art Institute once graced the cabinet of mirrors, a richly decorated room in the Venetian palace of the powerful Cornaro family.

Colors in this work

Details

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
187.5 × 216.8 cm (73 13/16 × 85 3/8 in.); Framed: 194.8 × 223.5 × 8.3 cm (76 1/2 × 88 × 3 1/4 in.)
Origin
Italy
Holding institution
Art Institute of Chicago
Image provider
art-institute-chicago
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Bequest of James Deering

Art Genome Taxonomy

12 tags

Subject Matter

  • Narrative Both · 99%

    The painting presents a staged episode with identifiable figures and action, and the museum identifies it as a scene from Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata.

  • Mythology and Religion Metadata · 80%

    The museum’s subject indexing includes mythology and mythological figures; the literary episode features the sorceress Armida and an enchanted setting.

  • Love Metadata · 96%

    The museum describes Armida’s encounter with the sleeping Rinaldo and the subsequent love between the two characters.

  • Figures in Nature Both · 98%

    Human figures are visibly situated among clouds, trees, rocks, and distant terrain; the museum description emphasizes the scenery, trees, and landscape.

  • Landscapes Both · 97%

    The composition includes extensive sky, clouds, trees, rocks, water, and distant terrain, and landscape is among the museum’s listed subjects.

  • Animals Both · 98%

    Several horses are visible around the cloud-borne chariot, and the museum lists animals and horses among the subjects.

Styles and Movements

  • Baroque Metadata · 99%

    The museum identifies the work as Baroque and dates it to circa 1742–45.

Visual Qualities

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 96%

    The image uses luminous pale blues, creamy whites, yellow, coral, orange, red, and saturated blue accents.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The museum classifies the work as oil on canvas.

  • Large-Scale Painting Metadata · 95%

    The work measures 187.5 × 216.8 cm, and the museum describes it as a vast, large-scale work made for palace decoration.

Time Periods

  • 18th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The work is dated circa 1742–45, within the eighteenth century.

Geographic Regions

  • Italian Art Metadata · 99%

    The museum gives Italy as the place of origin and identifies Tiepolo as Italian.

Source & rights

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Armida Encounters the Sleeping Rinaldo. The Art Institute of Chicago.

High-resolution sources