SIENNOISE school circa 1600, entourage of Alessandro CASOLAN - Lot 22

SIENNOISE school circa 1600, entourage of Alessandro CASOLANI Olinde and Sophronie on the stake Canvas 46.5 x 69.5 cm In a Neoclassical molded wood frame (Old restorations) The torture of Olinde and Sophronie comes from the second song of the epic Gerusalemme liberata (II, 1-55). The elegiac poem recounts the persecution waged on Jerusalem's Christians by the pagan king Aladin, after a venerated image of the Virgin, which he himself had stolen, disappeared into his hands. To save her co-religionists from Aladin's wrath, Sophronie, a pious and courageous virgin, denounces herself and claims to be responsible for the disappearance of the sacred image. To save her, Olinde, a young man in love with her, also denounces himself. Not knowing which one is lying to save the other, Aladin condemns them both to burn at the stake, back to back, unable to turn to each other. It is the warrior Clorinde who, moved by pity, asks Aladin to pardon the lovers. They are finally exiled, and through this ordeal, Olinde wins Sophronie's love and hand in marriage.