Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica — Gustave Doré (Orlando Furioso)

The moment before the rescue

On the island of Ebuda, the inhabitants offer a maiden every day to a monster from the sea. Today it is Angelica: chained naked to a towering rock, her head thrown back, she hears the waves break as the creature rises from the foam, spreading its bat-like wings. Yet high in the stormy sky, still tiny, a shape is approaching: Ruggiero on the hippogriff, flying to her aid. Taken from Ludovico Ariosto's great chivalric poem Orlando Furioso, this scene captures the instant of pure suspense just before the battle.

Doré, master of storms and monsters

Gustave Doré illustrated Orlando Furioso for an edition published by Hachette in 1879. In this plate he plays with scale: the immense rock, the churning sea and the coils of the monster dwarf the fragile, luminous figure of Angelica, while the rescuer is no more than a silhouette in the distance. The wood engraving renders every wave, every scale and every crack in the stone with astonishing precision.

Why it works so well on a wall

Dramatic and atmospheric, with silvery greys and deep blacks, this print suits a study, a library, a hallway or a gaming room, and makes a perfect gift for lovers of fantasy, dragons and epic tales. Pair it with Ruggiero Fighting the Sea Monster, the next moment of the story, for a striking diptych.

• Artist: Gustave Doré (1832–1883)
• Work: Illustration for Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Canto X
• Date: 1879
• Medium: Wood engraving
• Literary source: Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516–1532)

Discover more of Doré's visionary engravings in our Gustave Doré collection.