Group — Plate 88

What you are looking at

Four corpulent male figures in Ottoman dress stand in a staged interior with a patterned textile backdrop and wooden floor. Each wears a tall white turban, a long buttoned robe cinched at the waist, and loose breeches. They are arranged in a loose line across the stage, their bodies facing forward with legs spread wide in a straddle stance. Their arms are raised and bent at the elbows in similar poses, suggesting a synchronized group movement. The engraving captures them mid-gesture in what appears to be a theatrical or performative moment. Below the stage, a scroll contains German text describing the dance, flanked by two vignettes: on the left, a seated figure playing a wind instrument; on the right, draped curtains suggesting a theatrical setting.

The dancing

The four dancers present an identical or near-identical posture: legs in a wide second position or straddle, torso upright, arms raised with elbows bent at roughly 90 degrees and hands at shoulder height or slightly higher. The stance is stable and grounded, with weight distributed evenly. The uniformity of pose across all four figures emphasizes the group choreography. No closed holds or partner contact is visible; instead, each dancer occupies discrete space while maintaining formation.

The dance depicted

This appears to be a satirical or comedic theatrical dance from the early 18th century, possibly a *Türkentanz* (Turkish dance) or similar exoticized performance type popular in European court and commercial theatre of the period. The exaggerated corpulence of the figures, their synchronized heavy-legged stance, and the Ottoman costume all suggest parody or burlesque of Turkish court dance rather than an attempt at ethnographic accuracy. The wide straddle and raised-arm position do not correspond to documented Ottoman recreational or court dance forms, indicating instead a European theatrical convention for representing foreign bodies in motion. This work documents the body type and movement style that European audiences associated with Ottoman masculinity in performance.

How it was made

A copper-plate engraving, executed with fine cross-hatching to model form and create tonal variation. The technique allowed for precise detail in costume and physiognomy, and the print's capacity for reproduction made it a key medium for disseminating choreographic notation and theatrical imagery across Europe. The pairing of musical notation at top with illustrated figures below was a standard format in dance manuals and theatrical instruction books, enabling the work to function both as a visual document and a practical teaching aid.

About this work

This is Plate 88 from Gregorio Lambranzi's *Nuova e curiosa scuola de' balli theatrali* (Nuremberg, 1716), one of the era's most comprehensive and influential illustrated dance manuals. The work pairs a notated musical phrase with an engraved scene of four dancers in Ottoman costume performing a synchronized group movement on a theatrical stage. As a page from a manual intended for professional dancers, choreographers, and theatre practitioners, it functioned as both a record of a specific theatrical performance type and an instructional model for reproduction. The inclusion of musical notation above the figures explicitly links bodily movement to temporal and melodic structure.

How to look at it

Attend to the absolute uniformity of posture across all four dancers—this is a group choreography in which repetition and synchronization are the choreographic principle. Notice the wide, heavy-legged stance: the feet are placed well apart, the legs are straight and weight-bearing, and the body is upright rather than lifted. This contrasts markedly with the lighter, more elevated carriage of contemporary court dance (minuet, courante) and signals instead a grounded, earthbound movement vocabulary. The raised arms with bent elbows suggest a gesture of celebration or festivity, but the overall effect—combined with the exaggerated waistlines and the patterned costume—is comic or burlesque rather than noble or dignified.

The artist

Gregorio Lambranzi (c. 1680–1730) was an Italian dancing master and choreographer active in the German-speaking territories. He is known almost exclusively through the *Nuova e curiosa scuola de' balli theatrali*, published in Nuremberg in 1716, which contains roughly 100 engraved plates documenting a vast repertory of theatrical dances. The work represents a unique attempt to systematize and preserve dance knowledge through notation and illustration at a moment when most dance transmission remained oral and embodied. Lambranzi's manual influenced later European dance notation systems and remains one of the most detailed visual records of early 18th-century theatrical choreography.

The period

The early 18th century saw a flourishing of illustrated dance manuals across Europe, driven by the codification of court dance into a teachable system and the rise of professional theatrical dance in opera and commercial venues. Lambranzi's work belongs to the final generation of baroque dance documentation before the Cecchetti and Beaumont systematization of ballet technique in the 19th century. The period was also marked by European fascination with Ottoman culture—following the Treaty of Carlowitz (1699)—which found expression in "turquerie" across visual arts, theatre, and music. Satirical Turkish dances and the comic exaggeration of non-European bodies were stock theatrical types in the early 18th century.

Where it lives

This is a page from Gregorio Lambranzi's *Nuova e curiosa scuola de' balli theatrali*, a bound or loose-leaf collection of 100+ engraved copper plates published in Nuremberg in 1716. Copies are held in major libraries and archives throughout Europe. The work functioned both as a luxury illustrated book for collectors and connoisseurs and as a practical manual for dancers and choreographers seeking to learn or reconstruct dances from notation and figural cues.

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