With "La Gerusalemme liberata", Torquato Tasso revived the ancient genre of epic poetry. Already during his lifetime, his work became subject to an intensive discourse on the images used – both the military events of the crusades, and the tragic love stories moved artists and the public. At the same time, "Discorsi dell’arte poetica" became the blueprint for the theory and practice of historic visual art. Around 1800, the focus finally moved to the personality of the poet as a model of the modern artist who suffers in and from the world.

In a dialog between literary science and art history, new research is presented on the subject of Tasso and the pictures. The focus is on the ekphrastic tradition and important artistic interpretations of Tasso in pictures – like that of Nicolas Poussin.

With "La Gerusalemme liberata", Torquato Tasso revived the ancient genre of epic poetry. Already during his lifetime, his work became subject to an intensive discourse on the images used – both the military events of the crusades, and the tragic love stories moved artists and the public. At the same time, "Discorsi dell’arte poetica" became the blueprint for the theory and practice of historic visual art. Around 1800, the focus finally moved to the personality of the poet as a model of the modern artist who suffers in and from the world.

In a dialog between literary science and art history, new research is presented on the subject of Tasso and the pictures. The focus is on the ekphrastic tradition and important artistic interpretations of Tasso in pictures – like that of Nicolas Poussin.

Mit „Gerusalemme Liberata" erneuerte Torquato Tasso das antike Heldenepos. Schon zu Lebzeiten setzte eine intensive bildkünstlerische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Werk ein: sowohl die militärischen Ereignisse des Kreuzzuges als auch die tragischen Liebesgeschichten bewegten Künstler und Publikum. Zugleich wurden Tassos „Discorsi dell’arte poetica" zur Folie für Theorie und Praxis des Historienbildes. Um 1800 trat schließlich die Person des Dichters in den Vordergrund als Modell für den in und an der Welt leidenden modernen Künstler.

Im Dialog von Literaturwissenschaft und Kunstgeschichte werden neue Forschungen zum Thema Tasso und die Bilder präsentiert. Im Zentrum stehen dabei die ekphrastische Tradition und bedeutende bildkünstlerische Tasso-Interpretationen, wie etwa von Nicolas Poussin.