The Death of Tasso
One of Friedrich Friedländer’s best-known paintings, The Death of Tasso, depicts the death of the Italian poet Torquato Tasso (1544–1595). Tasso was famous for his epic poem, La Gerusalemme liberate (Jerusalem Delivered) that celebrated the 1099 capture of Jerusalem by Catholic knights during the First Crusade. Shortly before he was about to be crowned “King of Poets” by the Pope, Tasso died, impoverished and suffering from mental illness. In Friedländer’s painting, the dying Tasso is surrounded by monks, one of whom raises his hand to fend off a crowd of women and other admirers of the poet.
Credits
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.
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