# Rinaldo and Armida in Her Garden

**Giovanni Battista Tiepolo** (Italian, 1696–1770)  
c. 1742–45  
Oil on canvas  
186.7 × 259.4 cm (73 1/2 × 102 1/8 in.); Framed: 194.3 × 270.5 × 7.9 cm (76 1/2 × 106 1/2 × 3 1/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.699. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16485).

## About this work

This is the second of four large paintings in a sequence by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo depicting the crusader Rinaldo and the sorceress Armida. Here 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. Meanwhile, Rinaldo’s two companions, Carlo and Ubaldo, arrive to persuade him to return to their quest to seize control of Jerusalem.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted this in about 1742–45, aged about 46. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of oil on canvas.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Giovanni Battista Tiepolo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-battista-tiepolo)

Italian, 1696–1770; born in Venice; died in Madrid

Tiepolo was the leading decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, covering ceilings and walls with airy skies, foreshortened figures and luminous colour. After establishing himself in Venice, he worked with his sons Giandomenico and Lorenzo on the frescoes of the Residenz at Würzburg in 1750–53, and in 1762 he went to Madrid to decorate the Royal Palace for Charles III, remaining there until his death. Rinaldo and Armida, the lovers of Tasso’s epic Jerusalem Delivered, were subjects he painted more than once.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 46
- Real size: about 73 × 102 in (186 × 259 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 30 × 40 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Rococo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/rococo)
- Subjects: Narrative, garden, foliage, plants, bushes, cupids, walls, mirror
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/53.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/53/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/rinaldo-and-armida-in-her-garden-aic-16485).