Jardin d'Armide wallpaper

This monumental pictorial wallpaper consists of vertical strips that form a three-part composition entitled “The Garden of

Armida.” A statue of a female figure (variously identified as Armida, Flora, and Pandora) stands at the center of a garden

conservatory on a plinth banked with flowers. Panels on either side create the illusion of a conservatory trellis supporting large

hanging baskets overflowing with flowers. This design was awarded a first-class medal at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris,

where critics recognized it as a remarkable innovation and a technical tour-de-force that rivaled “great painting.” That was the goal

of its manufacturer, Jules Defossé, who commissioned designs from leading artists of the day, such as Edouard Müller, Thomas

Couture, and Auguste Clésinger. Armida in the title refers to the sorceress in “Jerusalem Delivered,” an epic poem of the

Renaissance by Torquato Tasso. In the poem, the beauty and fragrance of Armida’s garden have magical powers, suggested here by

the profusion of flowers and the misty landscape in the distance.