Object number1917.1.9
Erminia and the Shepherds
Datec. 1650
Artist
Andrea Vaccaro
(Italian, 1604-1670)
CultureItalian
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 83 3/4 x 105 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. (212.73 x 268.61 x 8.89 cm)
Unframed: 69 1/4 x 91 3/8 in. (175.9 x 232.09 cm)
Unframed: 69 1/4 x 91 3/8 in. (175.9 x 232.09 cm)
Credit LineGift of Charles M. Pratt
On View
Not on viewPeriod17th c
Classification(s)
SignedNot signed
BibliographyMundy, James, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center: Vassar College The History and Collection (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007), p. 44 repr.DescriptionTraditionally attributed to the Neapolitan Baroque artist Mattia Preti, this large painting was reassigned to the work of Andrea Vaccaro in the 1980s. It portrays the sixth and seventh stanzas of Canto VII of Torquato Tasso’s (1544–1595) epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata of 1575, a source of inspiration for many artists and composers of the Baroque era. Erminia was the daughter of the Saracen King of Antioch. Her love for the Christian knight Tancred (in spite of his own love for Clorinda, a female warrior) takes her to the Chris- tian camp dressed in armor like Clorinda to look for the wounded Tancred. Discovered and pursued by the Christian guards, she escapes to the country- side, where she happens upon “a white haired man in the cool shade, weaving twig baskets, with his flock nearby and listening to three children’s lullaby.” The unexpected soldier startles the group, but she reassures them by taking off her helmet “showing her eyes and her fair golden locks.” While the moment is a minor one in the narrative poem, it is a splendid opportunity for the artist to present the dramatic confrontation of the elements of war and peace, reconciled with a single gesture.Terms
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