Erminia and the Shepherds (after Torquato Tasso) | MSK Gent
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Erminia and the Shepherds (after Torquato Tasso), ca. 1776

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 43.5 x 37.4 cm
  • Inv. 1988-M

Public Domain

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Erminie with the Shepherds depicts a scene from the seventh song of Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, an epic poem that takes the conquest of Jerualem by the Crusaders as its subject. Tasso describes the battles between Christian and Muslim soldiers and the love perils between crusaders and exotic women. In the seventh song, Erminie, a captured Moorish princess, is released by the Christian crusader Tankredes. As a result, Erminie falls in love with him. When she learns that Tankredes has been wounded, she tries to seek him out with a ruse: she dresses up in the armour of Clorinda, a Saracen Amazon with whom Tankredes has fallen in love. When Erminie approaches the crusaders' camp, she is surprised by some sentries. She flees and hides on the banks of the Jordan, where she meets an old shepherd and his family. She marvels at the peace and happiness of this shepherd's family while a terrible war rages. The old man replies: It is not the reed, but the oak that is struck by lightning. Typical of neoclassicism is the reference to classical antiquity: Erminie is depicted in the clothes of Minerva, the Roman goddess of war.

Artist

Joseph-Benoît Suvée RKD
Bruges 1743 - Rome 1807
painters (artists)AAT

Title Erminia and the Shepherds (after Torquato Tasso)
Date ca. 1776
Period 18th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number 1988-M
Acquisition credit purchase
Galerie d'Arenberg
Brussels
1988
Current whereabouts Work on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1988-M
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3600/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300417629 mythologies (religious concept) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 11 Christian religion Iconclass
12I Islam, Mohammedanism Iconclass
22C light Iconclass
22C1 natural light Iconclass
24A8 sunlight Iconclass
25G11 groups of trees Iconclass
25G3 trees Iconclass
25H1 landscapes in the temperate zone Iconclass
26A clouds Iconclass
31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) Iconclass
31A235 sitting figure Iconclass
31A71 male sex; man Iconclass
31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31AA the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31AA231 standing figure - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31AA235 sitting figure - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31B6211 looking upwards Iconclass
31B6212 looking downwards Iconclass
31D14 adult man Iconclass
31D15 adult woman Iconclass
42G family, relationship, descent Iconclass
45C14(LANCE) helved weapons, polearms (for striking, hacking, thrusting): lance Iconclass
45C22 armour Iconclass
45C221 helmet Iconclass
47I21111 ox Iconclass
47I213 sheep Iconclass
47I221 herding, herdsman, herdswoman, shepherd, shepherdess, cowherd, etc. Iconclass
47I2211 herd, flock Iconclass
82A(TANCREDES) male literary characters (TANCREDES) Iconclass
82AA(CLORINDE) female literary characters (CLORINDE) Iconclass
82AA(ERMINIA) Erminia Iconclass
83(TASSO, Gerusalemme Liberata) (scenes from) specific works of literature: Tasso, Gerusalemme Liberata Iconclass
92C2 (story of) Minerva (Pallas, Athena) Iconclass
School / Style Neoclassical AAT
Joseph Benoît Suvée / Jean-François Méjanès. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 98-99)
Enkele aspecten van de Belgische kunst in de 18de en 19de eeuw = Quelques aspects de l'art en Belgique aux XVIIIe et XIX siècles / Denis Coekelberghs. - Bruxelles : Galerie d'Arenberg, 1988 (p. 63-64, nr. 9)
Om en rond het neo-classicisme in België 1770-1830 (tentoonstelling Elsene, Gemeentemuseum, 14.11.1985 - 8.2.1986) / Denis Coekelberghs, Pierre Loze, Alain Jacobs, Antoine Schnapper, Barbara Issaverdens. - Brussel : Société Royale d'Archéologie de Bruxelles, 1985 ; Elsene (Brussel) : Museum van Elsene, 1985 (p. 98-99)
200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. 273 (ill. 56))
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. II, p. 316-317 (ill.))
Joseph-Benoît Suvée, 1743-1807 : Un artiste entre Bruges, Rome et Paris (exposition Tours, musée des Beaux-arts de Tours, 21.10.2017 - 22.01.2018) / Sophie Join-Lambert, Anne Leclair, Denis Coekelberghs, Dominique Marechal. - Paris : Arthena, 2017 (p. 214-215)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021
Joseph-Benoît Suvée : De Bruges à Rome ; Un peintre face à David ; Livret de l'exposition (Tours, musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, 21.10.2017 - 22.01.2018) / Sophie Join-Lambert, Anne Leclair. - Paris : Arthena, 2017
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