Portal:Opera/Selected picture/54
Credit: Anonymous, restored by Adam Cuerden
Title page of the libretto for Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata printed for the opera's premiere season at La Scala in 1843. Verdi dedicated the score to Maria Luigia, the Habsburg Duchess of Parma, who died a few weeks after the premiere. I Lombardi was part of a long tradition of operas set against the background of the medieval Crusades which dates from the 17th century. In 1847 the opera was significantly revised for performances in Paris with the title Jérusalem and became Verdi's first grand opera.