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
|
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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 |
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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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