This collection contains 208 of Dore's finest illustrations for Ariosto's magnificent epic poem, painstakingly reproduced from a beautifully printed 19th century German edition. The illustrations range from brilliant quick sketches to highly finished and shaded studies, many of which convey an incomparable feeling of metaphysical gloom. Against this stark backdrop, a panorama of jousting knights, damsels in distress, heroic deeds, romantic interludes, and mystical events comes to life under Doré's exuberant pen style.