Armida

2024-12-16T13:09:23Z

188.230.254.123: incorectly stated author of the picture of Rinaldo and Armida

{{other uses| Armida (disambiguation)}}
{{for multi|the American actress|Armida (actress)|the opera |Armida (Rossini)| the minor planet|514 Armida}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Gregorio Lazzarini - Rinaldo and Armida.jpg|thumbnail|''Rinaldo and Armida,'' [[Gregorio Lazzarini]] circa 1690.|alt=]]

'''Armida''' is the fictional character of a [[Saracen]] sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet [[Torquato Tasso]].
==Description==
[[File:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Rinaldo Enchanted by Armida - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|''Rinaldo Enchanted by Armida'', [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]]. |alt=|left]]
[[File:The_Rose_from_Armida's_Garden_by_Marie_Spartali_Stillman_(1894).jpg|thumb|The Rose from Armida's Garden by [[Marie Spartali Stillman]] (1894)]]
In Tasso's epic ''[[Jerusalem Delivered]]'' ({{langx|it|Gerusalemme liberata|link=no}}), [[Rinaldo (Jerusalem Delivered)|Rinaldo]] is a fierce and determined warrior who is also honorable and handsome. Armida has been sent to stop the Christians from completing their mission and is about to murder the sleeping soldier, but instead she falls in love. She creates an enchanted garden where she holds him a lovesick prisoner. Eventually Charles and Ubaldo, two of his fellow Crusaders, find him and hold a shield to his face, so he can see his image and remember who he is. Rinaldo barely can resist Armida's pleadings, but his comrades insist that he return to his Christian duties. At the close of the poem, when the pagans have lost the final battle, Rinaldo, remembering his promise to be her champion, prevents her from giving way to her suicidal impulses and offers to restore her to her lost throne. She gives in at this and like the other Saracen woman, [[Clorinda (Jerusalem Delivered)|Clorinda]], earlier in the piece, becomes a Christian and his "handmaid".

Many painters and composers were inspired by Tasso's tale. The works that resulted often added or subtracted an element; Tasso himself continued to edit the story for years. In some versions, Armida is converted to Christianity, in others, she rages and destroys her own enchanted garden.

She occupies a place in the literature of abandoned women such as the tragic [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]], who committed suicide, and the evil [[Circe]], whom [[Odysseus]] abandoned to return home, but she is considered by many to be more human and thus more compelling and sympathetic than either of them.
[[File:Armide.JPG|alt=|thumb|''Armida'' by [[Jacques Blanchard]], [[Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes]].]]

== In opera ==
The story of Armida and Rinaldo has been the basis for a number of operas:
* ''[[Lost operas by Claudio Monteverdi|Armida abbandonata]]'' (1627) by [[Claudio Monteverdi]] (lost)
* ''[[Armide (Lully)|Armide]]'' (1686) by [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]]
* ''[[Rinaldo and Armida (play)|Rinaldo and Armida]]'' (1698) by [[John Dennis (dramatist)|John Dennis]]
* ''[[Rinaldo (opera)|Rinaldo]]'' (1711) by [[George Frideric Handel]]
* ''[[Armida al campo d'Egitto]]'' (1718) by [[Antonio Vivaldi]]
* ''Armida'' (1761) by [[Tommaso Traetta]]
* ''[[Armida abbandonata]]'' (1770) by [[Niccolò Jommelli]]
* ''[[Armida (Salieri)|Armida]]'' (1771) by [[Antonio Salieri]]
* ''[[Armida (Sacchini)|Armida]]'' (1772) by [[Antonio Sacchini]]
* ''[[Armide (Gluck)|Armide]]'' (1777) by [[Christoph Willibald von Gluck]]
* ''[[Armida (Mysliveček)|Armida]]'' (1780) by [[Josef Mysliveček]]
* ''[[Renaud (opera)|Renaud]]'' (1783), also by Sacchini
* ''[[Armida (Haydn)|Armida]]'' (1784) by [[Joseph Haydn]]
* ''Armida e Rinaldo'' (1786) by [[Giuseppe Sarti]]
* ''Armida'' (1802) by [[Francesco Bianchi (composer)|Francesco Bianchi]]
* ''[[Armida (Rossini)|Armida]]'' (1817) by [[Gioachino Rossini]]
* ''[[Armida (Dvořák)|Armida]]'' (1904) by [[Antonín Dvořák]]
* ''[[Armida (Weir)|Armida]]'' (2005) by [[Judith Weir]]

On 1 May 2010, Rossini's ''Armida'' was performed and broadcast live to theaters around the world in the series ''MetLive in HD''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670805/|title = Rossini: Armida|website = [[IMDb]]}}</ref>

[[Johannes Brahms]] composed [[Rinaldo (cantata)|a cantata entitled ''Rinaldo'']] based on the story.[[File:Willem van Mieris 001.jpg|thumbnail|''Rinaldo and Armida'', [[Willem van Mieris]] (1709).]]

==Armida as a ballet==

*''Armida''. Choreography by [[Jules Perrot]]. Music by [[Cesare Pugni]]. First performed by the [[Mariinsky Ballet|Imperial Ballet]] at the [[Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre]], [[St. Petersburg]] on {{OldStyleDate|20 November|1855|8 November}}.
*''[[Le Pavillon d'Armide]]''. Choreography by [[Mikhail Fokine]]. Music by [[Nikolai Tcherepnin]]. First performed by the Imperial Ballet at the [[Imperial Mariinsky Theatre]], St. Petersburg on {{OldStyleDate|25 November|1907|12 November}}. Second premiere given by the [[Ballets Russes]] at the [[Théâtre du Châtelet]], [[Paris]] on 19 May 1909.
*''Rinaldo and Armida''. Choreography by [[Frederick Ashton]]. Music by [[Malcolm Arnold]]. First performed by the [[Sadler's Wells Ballet]] at the [[Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]], [[London]] on 6 January 1955.

==In film==
*The anthology film [[Aria (1987 film)|''Aria'']] includes a ten-minute segment [[Jean-Luc Goddard]] directed that is a modern day, loosely based, version of ''Armide''.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 086.jpg|Rinaldo and Armida, by [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|Tiepolo]] 1755.
File:Rinaldo and Armida by Gerard Hoet.jpg|Rinaldo and Armida, by [[Gerard Hoet]]
File:Charles Errard, Renaud abandonnant Armide.jpg|[[Charles Errard]]: Renaud abandonnant Armide, Rinaldo abandoning Armida
File:Colombel - Rinaldo abandoning Armida.jpg|[[Nicolas Colombel]] - Rinaldo abandoning Armida
</gallery>

==References==
{{Commons category|Armida}}
{{reflist}}

{{Nuttall}}
{{Jerusalem Delivered}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Female characters in literature]]
[[Category:Fictional characters who use magic]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in the 1580s]]
[[Category:Torquato Tasso characters]]

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Armida