Illustratie bij Canto IV van Tasso's 'Gerusalemme Liberata' 1565 - 1630

This is Antonio Tempesta’s “Illustration for Canto IV of Tasso’s ‘Gerusalemme Liberata’,” a print made sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. Tempesta was working in Italy during the Counter-Reformation, a period when the Catholic Church was trying to reclaim its authority in the face of the Protestant Reformation. Religious and political leaders saw art as a powerful tool for shaping public opinion and controlling behavior. This image shows a scene from Tasso’s epic poem of the 1570s, a story of the First Crusade. We see a clash of civilizations and religions, with Christian soldiers battling demonic forces for control of Jerusalem. The print is filled with visual cues that would have been familiar to audiences of the time, a world of religious conflict. The artist’s decision to illustrate this particular scene reflects the cultural and political concerns of his era. Art historians draw on a range of sources, from religious texts and political tracts to personal letters and diaries, to better understand the social and institutional contexts in which art is made.