Wounded Tancred, nursed by Erminia (Scene from Torquato Tasso (1544–1595): La Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem relieved))

This scene is from the Erminia episode (Canto 19, 103–114), a subplot in Torquato Tasso’s "La Gerusalemme liberata". Erminia’s bridled horse in the background shadow bespeaks her haste when she sees Tancred wounded in combat with Argante: “… And when she saw indeed the form so dear/ pale, and wrapt round as with the winding-sheet of death/she stept not, — no, she darted from her seat!” Sword and helmet in the lower right-hand corner are also as Tasso describes: “… he stripped him of his arms...” – here Vafrino is supporting Tancred.
Ricchi focuses the light on the body of the wounded hero. While his face is in shadow, the features of Erminia are clearly shown, as she tends his wounds. Tasso describes how she dresses the wounds: “For with her radiant tresses, disentwined / she stanched the flowing blood.”

Ducke Astrid: Pietro Ricchi called il Lucchese, Wounded Tancred, nursed by Erminia (Scene from Torquato Tasso [1544-1595]: La Gerusalemme liberata [Jerusalem relieved]), in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 202-203