During June 1577 Tasso’s situation at the Este Court deteriorated. On 17 June he stabbed a servant, convinced that he was being spied upon while in private conversation with Princess Lucrezia. He was arrested and locked up in the Castle. A few days later he was released but kept under room arrest. In July he joined the Duke at his summer residence at Belriguardo, the very place where only four years earlier his Aminta had triumphed. He soon asked to be transferred to the convent of San Francesco in Ferrara. In spite of receiving medication to calm him and being kept under constant check, Tasso planned his escape. At the end of July he succeeded in fleeing the ducal castle during the night, and headed for Bologna.

Artist unknown, Torquato Tasso in 1577 during his confinement at the Este castle, Ratisbona, Furstlich Thurn und Taxissches Schlossmuseum