Jean-Honoré Fragonard (Grasse 1732-1806 Paris)
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (Grasse 1732-1806 Paris)

Chelinda, Mosco and Calamidor unite to slay Zerbino's steed

Details
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (Grasse 1732-1806 Paris)
Chelinda, Mosco and Calamidor unite to slay Zerbino's steed
black chalk
17¼ x 11 5/8 in. (43.7 x 29.5 cm.)
Provenance
See lot 288.
Literature
E. Mongan, P. Hofer and J. Seznec, Fragonard drawings for Ariosto, Washington, D.C., 1945, pl. 123.
M.-A. Dupuy-Vachey, Fragonard et le Roland Furieux, Paris, 2003, pp. 360-61, 391, no. 173.

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Lot Essay

Canto XVI, verses 60-61:
Chelind' and Mosco, the two bastard sons
Of Calabruno, Aragon's late kin,
For skill and daring famed among the Dons,
And young Calamidor, in duelling
The first of Barcelona's paragons,
Had left the standards far behind to fling
Themselves together on Zerbino's horse,
Which fell to earth beneath their three-fold force.

The horse, speared by three lances, lifeless falls;
But on his feet Zerbino is not slow
To seek out those who played his steed so false
And punish so unchivalrous a blow.
First Mosco, the incautious, he forestalls,
Who, mounted, fears no danger from below.
Zerbino spears the bastard in mid flight
And flings him from the saddle, cold and white.

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