This "paperolle" from the famous "Code Gonzague" (held in the
Biblioteca Ariostea of Ferrara) is a working copy for a passage
that was added to Tasso’s great work, completed the previous
year. The poet had submitted his original work to various humanists
and high-ranking scholars, and he took into consideration certain
critiques and suggestions when editing his verses during the summer
of 1576. Several stanzas were profoundly revised or even completely
rewritten. Stanza 42 was one of the most reworked, to the point
that Tasso had to paste this small strip of paper with the
definitive version of the text into the manuscript. The text
describes the attitude and thoughts of the Muslim princess Armide,
who gets ready to harangue the caliph and his armies and incite
them to fight to the death with the crusaders and thus to take
revenge on the Christian hero Rinaldo, who had abandoned her.
Rights
e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
