They have never ceased to be thought of as unlimited sources of inspiration for artists, musicians, painters and writers alike. These two long poems appeared several decades apart, in the refined atmosphere of the court of the Este in Ferrara. Right up to his death, Ariosto (1474-1533) never ceased in his reworkings of Orlando Furioso. La Gerusalemme Liberata was published by the poet Tasso (1544-1595) in 1581. Though in different ways, both reinvented the story of the Crusades, mixing acts of war with romance and fantastical tales.
Multiple editions of Orlando Furioso appeared in Europe during the Enlightenment. Fragonard was literally seized with passion for the epic poem, to the point of attempting to illustrate almost every scene. Although he was interrupted at the end of the sixteenth canto, this project produced around one hundred and eighty drawings. It is not known why, or for whom, this series was created. We can only situate it – through stylistic comparisons – at the end of the 1770s. This magnificent series of virtuosity attests to the artist's ability to translate into images a work as rich and complex as Orlando Furioso. The series marks a pinnacle in Fragonard's career, whereby passion and amorous misbehaviour, pushed to their zenith, are masterfully illustrated.
