Madlle. Fleury, Myrtha in Giselle

What you are looking at

A young female dancer is shown in a moment of suspended elegance within a romantic landscape. She stands en pointe on her right leg, her left leg extended behind her in an attitude derrière, her body angled gracefully to the left. Her wings are visible—a theatrical attribute marking her as a supernatural being. She wears a white romantic tutu with layers of gauzy fabric falling to mid-calf, the skirt caught mid-movement with visible volume and flow. Her hair is styled up, adorned with what appears to be a small crown or coronet. The background recedes into soft atmospheric depth, with a stone cross visible to the left—a Gothic or funerary element—and flowering vines or ivy at the right margin. The composition is framed within a decorative octagonal border, a convention of theatrical portraiture of the period.

The dancing

The dancer's weight is fully transferred to her supporting leg, knee bent in the soft yielding plié characteristic of romantic movement. The extended leg holds a clear line en attitude, with the foot pointed and lifted, the supporting arm held low and forward while the other arm curves upward in the open épaulement of the period. The pose conveys both stillness and the illusion of movement; the tutu's volume and the dancer's tilt suggest she has just completed or is suspended in turning. There is one figure only, isolated against the landscape.

The dance depicted

This is a theatrical advertisement for a romantic ballet, most likely Giselle, given the title's identification of the dancer (Mlle. Fleury) as Myrtha—the Queen of the Wilis in Act II. The image captures the otherworldly character as she appears in the supernatural scenes: ethereal, weightless, adorned with wings. The romantic tutu, pointe shoes, and gravity-defying attitude are the visual vocabulary of romantic ballet. However, the presence of Myrtha in this pose is unconventional; she is usually depicted in commanding positions of authority over the Wilis corps. This image instead emphasizes the lyrical beauty of the role and the dancer, a choice more common in single-figure theatrical prints of the era, which prioritized elegance over narrative context.

How it was made

This is an engraving or etching, likely a lithographic reproduction given the softness of the line and the tonal gradations in the background. From the image alone, it appears to be made by direct engraving on metal plate, with the finest lines defining the dancer's form and drapery while stippled and parallel hatching create shadow and depth. The decorative border and the printed text below indicate this is a published theatrical souvenir—an advertisement for the performance and the dancer. Such prints circulated widely and were affordable enough to reach middle-class audiences and dancers themselves, making them important evidence of how roles were marketed and remembered.

About this work

This is a mid-19th-century theatrical print celebrating Mlle. Fleury's performance as Myrtha in Giselle, one of the cornerstone roles of romantic ballet. The image exemplifies how the romantic ballet was promoted to the public: through elegant, accessible prints that emphasized the dancer's beauty and the supernatural visual spectacle of the ballet. The print belongs to a large corpus of single-figure dancer portraits from this era, produced to sell performances and to immortalize celebrated dancers in the roles that defined them. It is also documentary evidence of the costume, pointe work, and movement aesthetic of romantic-era ballet as understood by both the artist and the audience.

How to look at it

Observe the dancer's single supporting leg and the clarity of the pointe work—the engraver has taken care to show the foot en pointe and the supporting knee in plié, which would have been technically impressive to a mid-19th-century eye. Notice the wings and the otherworldly setting (the cross, the flowering plants) which establish her character as Myrtha, the supernatural queen, not a mortal maiden. The artist has frozen a moment of lyrical stillness rather than dramatic action, emphasizing the dancer's line and the romantic ideal of weightless, ethereal movement. The octagonal border and printed credits below ground this in theatrical commerce—this is a souvenir, an advertisement, a piece of fan culture.

The artist

The artist is not recorded in the catalogue. The print bears the imprint 'London, Published by William Spooner, 377 Strand, 3 New Buildings,' indicating it was produced commercially in London during the height of the romantic ballet's popularity. The style and technique suggest a professional theatre engraver of considerable skill, likely working from a sketch or painting made during performance or rehearsal. Many such prints were produced anonymously or under the publisher's name rather than the engraver's.

The period

This print dates to the era of romantic ballet, when Giselle (first choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot in Paris, 1841) was in active performance across Europe. By mid-century, London had embraced romantic ballet, and celebrated dancers like Cerito, Taglioni, and others had performed there. The supernatural subject matter—the Wilis, or spirits of dead maidens—was central to romantic ballet's aesthetic, which prized otherworldly beauty, ethereal movement, and the female dancer as the locus of poetic imagination. The print reflects the period's appetite for theatrical portraiture and for celebrating individual dancers in their celebrated roles. The octagonal framing device was common in European theatrical prints of the 1840s–1860s.

Where it lives

This print is held by the New York Public Library as part of the Prints depicting dance collection. It is a published theatrical souvenir and advertisement, not a unique work; similar copies would have been distributed commercially in London and sold to theatre audiences and to dancers themselves.

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