Lot Essay
This scene depicts the story of Armide before Godfrey de Bouillon (d. 1100) from Jerusalem Delivered. Subjects from Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso were woven thoughout the 17th Century and even into the early 18th Century by Aubusson. The engravings by Antonio Tempesta (d. 1630), Michel Lasne (d. 1667) and François Chauveau (d. 1676), which accompanied the various editions of the book, served as base for the tapestries. A set of six tapestries from this series are recorded in the inventories of 1736 at the château d'Herbault, belonging to the marquis d'Herbault, commander and controler of the finances. A version of the same subject, in the collection of baron Benoît de Bonvoisin, is illustrated in D. and P. Chevalier and P.-F. Bertand, Les Tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin, Lausanne, 1988, p. 51.