Angelica and Medoro was a popular subject for Romantic painters, composers and writers from the 16th until the 19th century.

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

and Medoro are two characters from the 16th-century Italian epic '' Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. Angelica was an Asian princess at the court of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

who fell in love with the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

knight Medoro, and eloped with him to China. While in the original work, Orlando was the main character, many adaptations focused purely or mainly on the love between Angelica and Medoro, with the favourite scenes in paintings being Angelica nursing Medoro, and Angelica carving their names into a tree, a scene which was the theme of at least 25 paintings between 1577 and 1825.

Episodes in the story

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Angelica and Medoro with the Shepherds - WGA22340

Angelica and Medoro are on different sides in the war, and their first encounter is when Angelica comes across the wounded Medoro. He has been wounded in a skirmish with Scottish knights, in which his two friends Cloridano and Dardinello were killed. They may be shown lying dead. In the poem Ariosto describes how Cupid, annoyed with Angelica's disdain for love, waits beside Medoro for Angelica with an arrow fitted in his bow. He may be shown firing this at her. Angelica takes Medoro off to a shepherd's hut, and nurses him there, falling in love with him in the process. When he is fully recovered they depart. The Villa Valmarana

Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

cycle (1757) shows both scenes. The most popular scene in art is of the lovers carving their names into a tree in a sylvan setting; most often Angelica is shown doing the carving. It is when the hero Orlando, who is in love with Angelica, finds the names that he becomes ''furioso'' or mad.Hall, James, ''Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art'', p. 18, 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray,

Incomplete list of artists depicting Angelica and Medoro

* Andrea Casali ''Angelica and Medoro'', 1750 *

Nicolas-Sébastien Adam Nicolas-Sébastien Adam (22 March 1705 – 27 March 1778), also called "Adam the Younger", was a French sculptor working in the Neoclassical style.David B. Morris, ''The Culture of Pain'' (University of California Press, 1991), p. 203. He was bor ...

, ''Angélique et Médor'', 1753 * François Boucher, ''Angelica and Medoro'', 1763 *

Ludovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light th ...

, ''Angelica'' and ''Medoro'', two heads *

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

, ''Angelica and the wounded Medoro'', 1860 * Angelica Kauffman, ''The Loves of Angelica and Medoro'' *

Laurent de La Hyre Laurent de La Hyre (; 27 February 1606 – 28 December 1656) was a French Baroque painter, born in Paris. He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical style of Parisian Atticism. Life La Hyre was greatly influenced by the work of Italian ...

, ''Angelica and Medoro'', 1641 * Teodoro Matteini, after a design by Raphael Sanzio Morghen *

Marcantonio Raimondi Marcantonio Raimondi, often called simply Marcantonio (c. 1470/82 – c. 1534), was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists largely of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figu ...

, ''Angelica e Medoro'', after Giulio Romano * Joshua Reynolds, ''Angelica and Medoro'' *

Bonifazio Veronese Bonifacio Veronese, birth name: Bonifacio de' PitatiAlso known as Bonifazio Veneziano (1487 – 19 October 1553) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was active in the Venetian Republic. His work had an important influence on the younger ge ...

, ''Angelica e Medoro'' *

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

, ''Angelica and Medoro'', 1763–1764 *

John Wootton John Wootton (c.1686– 13 November 1764)Deuchar, S. (2003). "Wootton, John". Grove Art Online. was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes, and illustrator. Life Born in Snitterfield, Warwickshire (near Stratfo ...

, ''Landscape with Angela and Medoro'', in the

Royal Albert Memorial Museum Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is a museum and art gallery in Exeter, Devon, the largest in the city. It holds significant and diverse collections in areas such as zoology, anthropology, fine art, local and overseas archaeolo ...

in Exeter * Michael Stroy, ''Angelika und Medor'', (1833), a scene from the epic Orlando Furioso

Gallery

File:Jacques Blanchard 1630 Angelica and Medoro.jpg, Jacques Blanchard, ''Angelica and Medoro'', 1630 File:Ricci Medoro and Angelica.jpg, Sebastiano Ricci, ''Medoro and Angelica'', 1720 Bemberg Fondation Toulouse - Angélique et Médor par Andrea Casali - Inv 1070.jpg, Andrea Casali, 1750 ''Angelica and Medoro'' File:Berthon Partenza di Angelica e Medoro.jpg, René Théodore Berthon, ''Departure of Angelica and Medoro'', 1810

Angelica nurses the wounded Medoro

File:Peterzano - Angelica and Medoro.jpg, Simone Peterzano, ''Angelica and Medoro'', before 1596 File:Giovanni Lanfranco - Angélica e Medoro.jpg, Lanfranco, ''Angelica and Medoro'', 1633–1634 File:Giovanni Lanfranco Angelica pflegt Medoro.jpg, Giovanni Lanfranco, ''Angelica nurses Medoro'', before 1647 File:Angelica und Medoro (18Jh).jpg, ''Angelica and Medoro'', 18th century (artist unknown)

List of authors writing about Angelica and Medoro

* Francisco de Aldana (1537–1578), ''Medoror y Angélica'', describing their adventures after the end of the ''Orlando Furioso'' * Luis Barahona de Soto, ''Primera parte de la Angélica'' (1586), also describing the adventures after the ending of the Furioso * Lope de Vega, ''La hermosura de Angélica'' (1602) *

Luis de Góngora Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic priest. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent ...

, ''En un pastoral albergue'', 1602, depicting the honeymoon of Angelica and Medoro * José de Cañizares, ''Angélica y Medoro'', 1722

List of composers writing about Angelica and Medoro

Libretto by Andrea Salvadori

Jacopo Peri Jacopo Peri (20 August 156112 August 1633), known under the pseudonym Il Zazzerino, was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera. He wrote th ...

and

Marco da Gagliano Marco da Gagliano (1 May 1582 – 25 February 1643) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque era. He was important in the early history of opera and the development of the solo and concerted madrigal. Life He was born in Florence and li ...

, ''Lo sposalizio di Medoro e Angelica'', 1619

Libretto by
Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

Nicola Antonio Porpora Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students included composers ...

, '' Angelica e Medoro (Porpora)'', 1720, which marked the debut of Farinelli * Giovanni Battista Mele, ''Angelica e Medoro'', 1747

Libretto by Leopoldo de Villati

Carl Heinrich Graun Carl Heinrich Graun (7 May 1704 – 8 August 1759) was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time. Biography Graun was born in Wahrenbr� ...

, ''Angelica e Medoro'' (3 acts, 1749)

Libretto by Carlo Vedova

* Giovanni Battista Lampugnani, ''Angelica e Medoro'', 1738 *

Giovanni Battista Pescetti Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pes ...

, ''Angelica e Medoro'', 1739

Libretto by Gaetano Sertor

* Gaetano Andreozzi, ''Angelica e Medoro'', 1791

Other

* Vito Giuseppe Milicco and

Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is '' Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of h ...

, ''Angelica e Medoro'', 1783, a cantate

Episodes in the story

Incomplete list of artists depicting Angelica and Medoro

Gallery

Angelica nurses the wounded Medoro

List of authors writing about Angelica and Medoro

List of composers writing about Angelica and Medoro

Libretto by Andrea Salvadori

Libretto by
Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

Libretto by Leopoldo de Villati

Libretto by Carlo Vedova

Libretto by Gaetano Sertor

Other

Notes

Further reading

Episodes in the story

Incomplete list of artists depicting Angelica and Medoro

Gallery

Angelica nurses the wounded Medoro

List of authors writing about Angelica and Medoro

List of composers writing about Angelica and Medoro

Libretto by Andrea Salvadori

Libretto by Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

Libretto by Leopoldo de Villati

Libretto by Carlo Vedova

Libretto by Gaetano Sertor

Other

Notes

Further reading

Libretto by
Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...