Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Saint Michael Finds Discord and Other Vices in a Convent: Illustration to Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso", Canto XIV
c. 1785-1790
In this boldly abstract drawing, Fragonard illustrates an episode from the epic poem "Orlando Furioso", Ludovico Ariosto's sixteenth-century allegory of the struggle between the powers of Christianity and of paganism. The image emerges from a maelstrom of cursive black chalk strokes and rich washes of ink. The archangel Michael descends on billowing clouds into a church to discover two corrupt figures representing Avarice and Vanity a monk reaching into an alms plate and a nun staring adoringly at a peacock.
Artist
Title
Saint Michael Finds Discord and Other Vices in a Convent: Illustration to Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso", Canto XIV
Date
c. 1785-1790
Medium
Drawing
Materials
black chalk with brown wash on laid paperDimensions
39.3 x 26.3 cm irregular
Nationality
French
Credit line
Purchased 1978
Accession number
18939