Research Catalog

Title

The three graces [graphic] / [signed on stone] Sarony.

Author

Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896.

Publication

[184-?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Grisi, Carlotta, 1819-1899.

Description

1 print : lithograph, hand-colored; 36 x 26 cm.

Summary

Representation of three female ballet dancers, each in a different costume, linking hands as they dance in a landscape against a low horizon. At their feet are wreaths framing the names Cerito [sic], Ellsler [sic], and Taglioni.

Subjects

• Elssler, Fanny, 1810-1884
• Cerrito, Fanny
• Graces, The
• Ballerinas > 19th century
• Taglioni, Marie, 1804-1884
• Lithographs

Genre/Form

Lithographs.

Note

• Printed below title: 189.

Indexed In (note)

• Chaffee, George, "Three or four graces: a centenary salvo," Dance index, vol. III, nos. 9-11, Sept.-Nov. 1944

Source (note)

• Gisela A. Llallach.

Biography (note)

• This is a variant of an iconic image of the Romantic ballet, depicting three leading ballerinas of the period in their famous roles. Two of the three are indisputable: Marie Taglioni in the title role of Filippo Taglioni's La sylphide (first performed in 1832), and Fanny Elssler in the role of Florinda, dancing the cachucha in Jean Coralli's Le diable boiteux (first performed in 1836). The third dancer, though labeled as Fanny Cerrito, has been identified instead as Carlotta Grisi in the role of Beatrix, dancing the pas de Diane chasseresse in Albert's La jolie fille de Gand (first performed in 1842). The original image, variously called Les trois Graces and Les Graces, is now believed to be the work of a French artist named Lejeune, whose identity remains uncertain. It was first published as a lithograph in Paris in 1844, and gave rise to copies by other printmakers, among them the Americans James Baillie, Nathaniel Currier, and Napoleon Sarony. In the original image, Taglioni was placed at the left of the print, with Elssler in the center and Grisi at the right, underscoring their significance as the past, present, and future of the contemporary ballet scene. Sarony's version reverses this sequence so that Grisi is at left and Taglioni at right. Other changes were made in the variants, among them the addition of ballet slippers to the dancers' bare feet, and the covering of Grisi's bosom with a bodice.

Call Number

*MGZFD Sar N Thr 2

OCLC

790610307

Author

Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896.

Title

The three graces [graphic] / [signed on stone] Sarony.

Imprint

[184-?]

Indexed In:

Chaffee, George, "Three or four graces: a centenary salvo," Dance index, vol. III, nos. 9-11, Sept.-Nov. 1944, p. [134]-192.

Biography

This is a variant of an iconic image of the Romantic ballet, depicting three leading ballerinas of the period in their famous roles. Two of the three are indisputable: Marie Taglioni in the title role of Filippo Taglioni's La sylphide (first performed in 1832), and Fanny Elssler in the role of Florinda, dancing the cachucha in Jean Coralli's Le diable boiteux (first performed in 1836). The third dancer, though labeled as Fanny Cerrito, has been identified instead as Carlotta Grisi in the role of Beatrix, dancing the pas de Diane chasseresse in Albert's La jolie fille de Gand (first performed in 1842). The original image, variously called Les trois Graces and Les Graces, is now believed to be the work of a French artist named Lejeune, whose identity remains uncertain. It was first published as a lithograph in Paris in 1844, and gave rise to copies by other printmakers, among them the Americans James Baillie, Nathaniel Currier, and Napoleon Sarony. In the original image, Taglioni was placed at the left of the print, with Elssler in the center and Grisi at the right, underscoring their significance as the past, present, and future of the contemporary ballet scene. Sarony's version reverses this sequence so that Grisi is at left and Taglioni at right. Other changes were made in the variants, among them the addition of ballet slippers to the dancers' bare feet, and the covering of Grisi's bosom with a bodice.

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

For another version of Sarony's print, with publication data and slightly different coloration, see: *MGZFD Sar N Thr 1.

This item may be offsite for digitization. For additional information please contact dance@nypl.org.

Source

Gift; Gisela A. Llallach.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

Grisi, Carlotta, 1819-1899. Associated name

Llallach, Gisela A. Donor

Research Call Number

*MGZFD Sar N Thr 2