Cléopâtre (1890)
Vintage French magazine cover. L'Illustration, 25 October 1890. Cover image: scene from the stage play Cléopâtre by Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau, performed at the Théâtre de la Porte St Martin in Paris, with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. Art work by Adrien-Emmanuel Marie, engraving by Michelet. The sets were designed by Jean-Baptiste Lavastre. In the same issue of L'Illustration another art work by Marie was given, depicting Cleopatra listening behind a curtain to the accusations against her put forward by Mark Antony's friends.
Many elements of the scenography and costumes in this scene return in the 1910 Pathé film Cléopätre (Ferdinand Zecca, Henri Andréani), see www.flickr.com/photos/truusbobjantoo/54329848659/in/datep...
French vedette Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) has been referred to as 'the most famous actress in the history of the world'. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning her the nickname 'The Divine Sarah'. Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon highly in demand in both Americas too. And she was one of the first film stars. What a woman!
Cléopâtre (1890)
Vintage French magazine cover. L'Illustration, 25 October 1890. Cover image: scene from the stage play Cléopâtre by Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau, performed at the Théâtre de la Porte St Martin in Paris, with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. Art work by Adrien-Emmanuel Marie, engraving by Michelet. The sets were designed by Jean-Baptiste Lavastre. In the same issue of L'Illustration another art work by Marie was given, depicting Cleopatra listening behind a curtain to the accusations against her put forward by Mark Antony's friends.
Many elements of the scenography and costumes in this scene return in the 1910 Pathé film Cléopätre (Ferdinand Zecca, Henri Andréani), see www.flickr.com/photos/truusbobjantoo/54329848659/in/datep...
French vedette Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) has been referred to as 'the most famous actress in the history of the world'. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning her the nickname 'The Divine Sarah'. Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of Europe in the 1870s, and was soon highly in demand in both Americas too. And she was one of the first film stars. What a woman!