Angelica and Medoro
Encyclopedia
Angelica and Medoro was a popular theme for Romantic
painters, composers and writers from the sixteenth until the nineteenth century. Angelica
and Medoro are two characters from the siwteenth-century Italian epic Orlando Furioso
by Ludovico Ariosto
. Angelica was an Asian princess at the court of Charlemagne
who fell in love with the Saracen or Moor 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.
Libretto by Andrea Salvadori
Libretto by Metastasio
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
painters, composers and writers from the sixteenth until the nineteenth century. Angelica
Angelica (character)
Angelica is a princess in the epic poem Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo. She reappears in the saga's continuation, Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, and in various later works based on the two original Orlando pieces...
and Medoro are two characters from the siwteenth-century Italian epic Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...
by Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens with diversions...
. Angelica was an Asian princess at the court of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
who fell in love with the Saracen or Moor 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.
List of artists depicting Angelica and Medoro
- François BoucherFrançois BoucherFrançois Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
, Angelica and Medoro, 1763 - Ludovico CarracciLudovico CarracciLudovico Carracci was an Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna....
, Angelica and Medoro, two heads - Eugène DelacroixEugène DelacroixFerdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Angelica and the wounded Medoro, ca. 1860 - Angelica Kauffman, The Loves of Angelica and Medoro
- Marcantonio RaimondiMarcantonio RaimondiMarcantonio Raimondi, also simply Marcantonio, was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists mainly of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figure in the rise of the reproductive print...
, Angelica e Medoro, after Giulio Romano - Joshua ReynoldsJoshua ReynoldsSir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, Angelica and Medoro - Bonifazio VeroneseBonifazio VeroneseBonifazio Veronese was an Italian painter. He was born as Bonifazio de' Pitati in Verona. He reputedly trained under Palma il Vecchio. Went on to run a large workshop in Venice. His paintings include Christ Giving a Sermon, , The , and Woman Holding Two Tablets, his style being influenced by...
, Angelica e Medoro - Benjamin WestBenjamin WestBenjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
, Angelica and Medoro, 1763-1764 - John WoottonJohn WoottonJohn Wootton was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes, and illustrator.-Life:Born in Snitterfield, Warwickshire , he is best remembered as a pioneer in the painting of sporting subjects – together with Peter Tillemans and James Seymour – and was considered the...
, Landscape with Angela and Medoro, in the Royal Albert Memorial MuseumRoyal Albert Memorial MuseumRoyal Albert Memorial Museum on Queen Street, Exeter, Devon, England is the largest museum in the city.-History:Initially proposed by Sir Stafford Northcote as a practical memorial to Prince Albert, an appeal fund was launched in 1861 and the first phases of the building were completed by 1868...
in Exeter
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 SotoLuis Barahona de SotoLuis Barahona de Soto was a Spanish poet.Born at Lucena , he was educated at Granada, and practised as a physician at Cordoba. His major work is the Primera parte de la Angélica , a continuation of the Orlando furioso...
, Primera parte de la Angélica (1586), also describing the adbentures after the ending of the Furioso - Lope de VegaLope de VegaFélix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
, La hermosura de Angélica (1602) - Luis de GóngoraLuis de GóngoraLuis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism...
, En un pastoral albergue, 1602, depicting the honeymoon of Angelica and Medoro - José de CañizaresJosé de CañizaresJosé de Cañizares y Suárez was a Spanish playwright. Cavalry officer, public official, and author of around one hundred works, he was one of the most important dramatists of the early 18th century.-Life:...
, Angélica y Medoro, 1722
Libretto by Andrea SalvadoriAndrea SalvadoriAndrea Salvadori was an Italian poet and librettist. He was born in Florence and educated at the Collegio Romano in Rome. From 1616 until his death in Florence at the age of 43, he was the principal court poet to the Medici family...
- Jacopo PeriJacopo PeriJacopo Peri was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera...
and Marco da GaglianoMarco da GaglianoMarco da Gagliano 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:...
, Lo sposalizio di Medoro e Angelica, 1619
Libretto by MetastasioMetastasioPietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
- Nicola Antonio Porpora, Angelica e Medoro, 1720, which marked the debut of FarinelliFarinelliFarinelli , was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.- Early years :...
- Giovanni Battista Mele, Angelica e Medoro, 1747
Libretto by Leopoldo de Villati
- Carl Heinrich GraunCarl Heinrich GraunCarl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor singer. Along with Johann Adolf Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.-Biography:...
, Angelica e Medoro (3 acts, 1749)
Libretto by Carlo Vedova
- Giovanni Battista LampugnaniGiovanni Battista LampugnaniGiovanni Battista Lampugnani was an Italian composer from Milan. He studied in Naples where he made his debut as a composer of opera in 1732. In 1743 he went to London to take over the Opera from Baldassare Galuppi at the King's Theatre, but he soon returned to Milan...
, Angelica e Medoro, 1738 - Giovanni Battista PescettiGiovanni Battista PescettiGiovanni Battista Pescetti was an organist and composer. Born in Venice around 1704, he studied under Antonio Lotti for some time...
, Angelica e Medoro, 1739
Other
- Vito Giuseppe Milicco and Domenico CimarosaDomenico CimarosaDomenico Cimarosa was an Italian opera composer of the Neapolitan school...
, Angelica e Medoro, 1783, a cantate
Further reading
- Julius A. Molinaro, Angelica and Medoro; The Development of a Motif from the Renaissance to the Baroque, 1954
- Rensselaer W. Lee, Names on trees : Ariosto into art, Princeton University Press, 1977, 124 pages, ISBN: 0691039143.