Fragonard's Illustrations for Ariosto's Orlando Furioso Published in Bibliophilic Edition

Les Éditions de l'amateur has published 'Fragonard et le Roland furieux' by Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey, a bibliophilic edition featuring nearly two hundred drawings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard inspired by Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem 'Orlando Furioso'. The poem, written in forty-six cantos and worked on until Ariosto's death in 1533, blends dramatic, epic, lyrical, erotic, and burlesque genres. The edition includes an excellent translation by André Rochon from 1998-99, originally published by Les Belles Lettres. Dupuy-Vachey describes Fragonard's response to the text as 'jubilatory frenzy', capturing the energy, speed of execution, lightness of touch, and scrupulous precision in depicting scenes of love, jealousy, knights battling monsters and Saracens, and heroines like Angélique, Mélisse, Isabelle, and Olympe. This is considered the first time such a fruitful encounter occurred between Ariosto's wild invention and Fragonard's artistic energy.