Renaud et Armide - Croutelle 1877

📜 Description
Period engraving belonging to the Musée du Louvre series and depicting the mythological subject “Renaud et Armide,” after a painting of the Italian School and published in Paris during the second half of the 19th century. The composition presents a narrative scene set within an idealized garden, with Armida portrayed beside the sleeping knight Rinaldo, surrounded by winged cupids, lush vegetation, and exotic animals, according to a theatrical and sentimental arrangement characteristic of Baroque and Classical pictorial tradition. The scene develops through a diagonal composition centered on the two principal figures, with architectural elements in the background and Cupid flying above, dynamically introducing the narrative from the upper section of the image. The subject derives from Torquato Tasso’s “Jerusalem Delivered,” in which the enchantress Armida seduces the crusader Rinaldo, keeping him within her enchanted garden. The lower margin bears several inscriptions and production credits, including “Dessiné par Regnier,” “Gravé par L. Croutelle,” and the designation “École Italienne,” together with the publisher’s imprint “Félix Herbet imprimeur éditeur Paris,” placing the work within the context of French print production intended for the dissemination of artworks preserved at the Louvre Museum. The print displays particularly refined rendering in the vegetation and drapery, with an engraving and color-printing technique characteristic of decorative and collectible Parisian art publishing of the period.

📚 Historical-Artistic Note
The subject of Rinaldo and Armida is among the most celebrated themes of European chivalric literature and was repeatedly reinterpreted by painters, engravers, and illustrators between the 17th and 19th centuries. This 19th-century version belongs to the French editorial production connected to the reproduction of works held in the Musée du Louvre, serving both educational and decorative purposes. Engraver L. Croutelle and draughtsman Regnier collaborated here in translating an Italian pictorial model into print form, following a common editorial practice in Paris during the second half of the 19th century.

🧾 Technical Sheet
Type: period engraving / antique print
Draughtsman / Engraver: Regnier / L. Croutelle
Publisher / Printer: Félix Herbet imprimeur éditeur, Paris
Place: Paris
Period: second half of the 19th century
Material: paper
Technique: color printed engraving
Subject / Title: Renaud et Armide
Marks / Signatures / Inscriptions: “Dessiné par Regnier”, “Gravé par L. Croutelle”, “Renaud et Armide”, “École Italienne”, “Musée du Louvre”, “Félix Herbet imprimeur éditeur Paris”

🔍 Condition Report
Good overall state of preservation with normal signs of age and light marginal foxing consistent with the period. The impression remains clear and the chromatic balance overall well preserved. Margins present and intact.