The Syrian princess Erminia is one of the heroines in Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso’s epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1581). Several of Eugène Delacroix’s paintings were inspired by the poem. Here, he depicts a scene in which Erminia has lost her way while fleeing on horseback, disguised in stolen armour. Suddenly, she hears music and cautiously approaches a basket-weaving shepherd surrounded by his family who are singing.