Rami d’oro e colonne di cristallo. Traduzioni figurative da “L’inamoramento de Orlando”

Abstract

This article investigates the reasons behind the representation of Inamoramento di Orlando in paintings and illustrated books from the sixteenth century onwards. Frescoes and illustrations inspired by Boiardo’s verse quote and amplify well-established pictorial motifs which drew upon literary works already well known by artists. For instance, Boiardo’s kingdom of the Naiads mirrors and expands the unreal and suspended atmosphere of Ariosto’s isle of Alcina; the golden branch retrieved by Prasildo is complementary to its counterpart destined to Enea; Prasildo and Tisbina’s story achieves a balance between the Ovidian source and its ramifications in chivalric poems.

Keywords

• boiardo
• visual arts