Theatrical portraits

What you are looking at

A young woman in theatrical dress stands in a posed, dynamic position against a plain background. She wears a black velvet bolero jacket with long sleeves over a corset-style bodice with blue ribbon detail, paired with a full skirt in pale golden yellow silk with a blue hem stripe and white underskirt that swings out from her legs. A red ribbon trails from her hair, which is styled up and back in the fashion of the 1830s–1840s. Her weight is shifted to one leg in a balletic stance; her body is animated and her gaze directed away. The figure is drawn with delicate hand-coloring over what appears to be a lithographic base, capturing the soft modeling of fabrics and the subtle play of light across the skirt. The composition is a three-quarter-length portrait, positioned frontally but with the body subtly twisted to suggest movement or a moment of dramatic pause.

The dancing

The dancer stands on a single supporting leg in a turned-out position suggesting classical training, with the free leg bent and partially obscured by the full skirt. Her upper body twists slightly, and her arms are held in a position consistent with Romantic-era ballet vocabulary—one arm extended or held at shoulder height in a soft frame. The posture and weight distribution suggest the lifted, ethereal carriage of early-19th-century theatrical dance. There is only one figure, isolated against the plain ground in the manner of a theatrical portrait print.

The dance depicted

This is a portrait of a theatrical dancer, most likely a ballet dancer of the Romantic period (1830s–1850s), identified in the inscription as Mlle. Robert in *La Fileuse des Fées* (The Spinner of Fairies). The costume—the full romantic tutu, the fitted jacket, the elevated carriage—and the balletic stance all confirm classical ballet training and technique. The golden skirt with blue trim and the dramatic red hair ribbon suggest a specific theatrical role, likely a supporting or character part rather than a sylph or prima ballerina, given the earthy color palette and practical styling. The pose captures the dancer between movements, in a moment of dramatic readiness.

How it was made

This is a hand-colored lithograph, a technique that allowed rapid production and wide circulation of theatrical portraits in the 1830s–1840s. The image shows the characteristic light key stone of lithography beneath applied watercolor or gouache in flesh tones, fabrics, and ribbon detail. The fine lines of the face and the delicate articulation of the legs suggest a skilled artist working from a live model or detailed study. Lithographic theatrical portraits were the primary means by which dancers' images reached audiences and were collected by patrons, making them central to 19th-century dance celebrity culture.

About this work

This is a hand-colored lithographic portrait of Mlle. Robert performing in a Romantic-era ballet, identified as *La Fileuse des Fées*. The work belongs to the tradition of theatrical portraiture that documented the dancers and performances of the 1830s–1840s, when ballet was one of the dominant forms of theatrical entertainment in Europe. The image is a valuable record of how a professional dancer of the period presented herself—the precise costume, the trained body, the carefully composed pose that conveyed both discipline and theatrical presence. Such prints circulated widely among theatergoers and collectors, functioning as both souvenirs and documentation of ephemeral performance.

How to look at it

Note the precise, trained posture and the turned-out stance—this is not an actress or a pantomime performer, but a ballet-trained dancer. Observe the silhouette of the skirt: the full, layered volume suggests the tulle construction and the silhouette favored in Romantic ballet, very different from earlier or later periods. Look at the moment the artist chose: the dancer is poised and composed, not mid-leap or mid-turn, but held in a position of readiness that conveys both the technical discipline of ballet and the theatrical presence expected of a performer of the era. The simplicity of the background and the formality of the pose are conventions of theatrical portraiture, designed to showcase the costume and the body without distraction.

The artist

The lithograph is inscribed with the printer's name (Imp. Becquet) and an address, but no artist's name appears on the print itself. It is part of a commercial series of theatrical portraits, likely published in Paris. The print was issued by the Maison Mathieu et Cie., rue Vivienne, Paris, suggesting a professional theatrical publishing house producing standardized portraits of performers. Without further documentation, the original artist—whether a theater artist, a commercial lithographer, or a traveling portraitist—cannot be identified.

The period

This print dates to the height of the Romantic ballet era in France, when dancers like Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, and Carlotta Grisi commanded public fascination. Theatrical lithographs became the primary medium for circulating images of dancers to a wide audience; photography was not yet in common theatrical use. The inscription *La Fileuse des Fées* suggests a fairy-tale or fantastical narrative ballet, consistent with the themes that dominated European ballet in the 1830s–1840s. Such prints were sold at the theater box office, in print shops, and by subscription, making dancers' likenesses available to fans and collectors at an affordable price.

Where it lives

This hand-colored lithograph is held in the New York Public Library's Prints collection in the section depicting dance. It is one of a large number of Romantic-era French theatrical portraits in that collection, many of them issued by Parisian theatrical publishers and printers. Such prints were commercial objects, produced in editions and distributed through theatrical and retail channels.

Dance in this work

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