Angelica and Medoro
by LA HYRE, Laurent de, Oil on canvas, 141 x 141 cm
Angelica is the daughter of a king of Cathay in Orlando Furioso, by the Italian poet Ariosto (1474-1533), a romantic epic poem about the conflict between Christians and Saracens at the time of Charlemagne. Angelica was loved by several knights, Christian and pagan, among them the Christian hero Orlando (Roland). He was maddened (furioso) with grief and jealousy because she became the lover of, and eventually married, the Moor Medoro. The scene depicted here (Canto 19:36) shows the two lovers carving their intertwined names on trees and rocks throughout the forest.