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At a time when few women in England were professional artists, the Swiss-born Kauffmann forged a successful career by producing ambitious allegorical paintings. Her command of the genre gained her admission to the Royal Academy of Arts, London, as one of its founding members. For this work, Kauffman drew her subject from the Italian Renaissance poem Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) by Torquato Tasso, which inspired many other eighteenth-century European artists. She depicts Rinaldo, a Crusader, falling under the spell of Armida, a sorceress. The painter places a mirror at Armida’s feet to reflect how the lovers have eyes only for each other and thus fail to notice Rinaldo’s compatriots arriving to rescue him.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025

First exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1772, this depiction of the story of Rinaldo and Armida is taken from Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata (1580), a poetic account of the First Crusade. Rinaldo was a handsome prince, and Armida was a beautiful sorceress sent by the devil to disrupt the crusaders. Armida bewitches Rinaldo but falls in love with him instead, and the pair explore their amorous adventures. The couple is shown at the moment when Rinaldo’s fellow crusaders discover his whereabouts and prepare to rescue him from his enchantment and distractions of love.

Gallery label for Love, Life, Death, and Desire: An Installation of the Center's Collections (Yale Center for British Art, 2020-11-01 – 2021-02-28)

Angelica Kauffmann was a Swiss-born painter who worked in London and Rome. She became a leading history painter at a time when history painting was still regarded as the most prestigious genre and, because of its intellectual basis, more fittingly the province of male painters. Kauffmann exhibited this painting at the Royal Academy in 1772. It illustrates a scene from Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata (1580), a poetic account of the First Crusade (1096–99). Rinaldo is a handsome prince, and Armida is a beautiful sorceress sent by the devil to disrupt the Crusade. Armida bewitches Rinaldo but falls in love with him at the same time. The couple is shown at the moment when Rinaldo’s fellow crusaders are about to rescue him. A testament to its popularity, Kauffmann’s painting was engraved three times.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

The story of Rinaldo and Armida is taken from Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata (1580), an account of the First Crusade and the capture in 1099 of the holy city of Jerusalem. The poem was known in England within a few years of its publication but enjoyed renewed popularity in the mid-eighteenth century. Rinaldo is a handsome prince and Armida a beautiful sorceress sent by the devil to disrupt the Crusade. She bewitches Rinaldo but, despite her evil intent, falls in love and brings him to her enchanted palace on the Fortunate Isle. The lovers are finally discovered by some of Rinaldo's companions in arms, who recall him to his Christian duty. Kauffman's painting was engraved three times: by the artist herself in mezzotint (1780), by James Hogg (1784), and by W. Dickinson (1790). All three are in the Center's print collection.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2010

The story of Rinaldo and Armida is from Torquato Tasso's epic poem "Gerusalemme Liberata" (1580), an account of the First Crusade and the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. Rinaldo is a handsome prince and Armida a beautiful sorceress sent by Satan to disrupt the Crusade. She bewitches Rinaldo but, despite her evil designs, falls in love with him, bringing him to her enchanted palace on the Fortunate Isle. The lovers are finally discovered by some of Rinaldo's companions in arms, who recall him to his Christian duty.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2005