The Death of Torquato Tasso
1852
Friedrich Friedländer captures the tragic final moments of the brilliant Italian poet Torquato Tasso in this 1852 Romantic masterpiece. Slumped in a chair and dressed in somber black, the exhausted poet is surrounded by concerned monks at the monastery of Sant'Onofrio in Rome. One monk kneels in deep reverence at his feet, while an elder gestures toward the background, perhaps signaling the arrival of the papal carriage that came too late to crown him poet laureate. It's a poignant reminder of the 'tortured artist' trope—Tasso spent years confined for madness, only to die just as he was about to achieve ultimate fame.