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Angelica and Medoro

1763
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 539

This painting, shown with its pendant at the Salon of 1765, is based on Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso (1532). In its handling and composition, it is a consummate example of Boucher’s skill as a colorist in the jewel-like treatment of a historical theme. It depicts Angelica, the pagan daughter of an imaginary king of China, who abandoned the Christian knight Orlando for the knight Medoro, a North African Muslim. Nothing of the multicultural cast found in the original text is evident in Boucher’s image, however, nor in the story’s many representations during the nineteenth century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Angelica and Medoro
  • Artist: François Boucher (French, Paris 1703–1770 Paris)
  • Date: 1763
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Oval, 26 1/4 x 22 1/8 in. (66.7 x 56.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
  • Object Number: 1982.60.46
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Jupiter, in the Guise of Diana, and Callisto, François Boucher French, Oil on canvas
Jupiter, in the Guise of Diana, and Callisto
François Boucher
1763
Young Girl with a Boy and a Dog, François Boucher French, Red chalk.
Young Girl with a Boy and a Dog
François Boucher
18th century
Drawing for "La Colonne Trajane", François Boucher French, Red chalk
Drawing for "La Colonne Trajane"
François Boucher
18th century
Drawing for "La Colonne Trajane", François Boucher French, Red chalk
Drawing for "La Colonne Trajane"
François Boucher
18th century
Collection of Fountains (Receuil de Fontaines)
François Boucher
Chez Huquier
before 1736

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