PETERZANO, Simone
(b. ca. 1540, Bergamo, d. ca. 1596, Milano)

Angelica and Medoro

c. 1575
Oil on canvas, 155 x 194 cm
Private collection

The scene described in this painting was inspired by Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (Canto 19, 20-36), an epic poem published in 1516 and an inexhaustible source of subjects for painting. Here the figures of Angelica and Medoro are presented as a treatment of the Pietà in 'chivalric' mode,

This painting is an early example in the artist's career of a synthesis between his Venetian experience and the impact of Lombard realism.