Research Catalog

Title

Fastnacht-Spiel zu Paris und dessen böser Äusgang [graphic].

Publication

[16--?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Charles VI, King of France, 1368-1422.

Description

1 print : woodcut, b&w; image 11 x 15 cm., on sheet 31 x 20 cm.

Summary

Leaf from a book in Old German script. The print appears on the verso, page 628, which is headed Historischer Chronick. The recto, page 627, is headed Sechster Theil, and the textual description of the episode illustrated in the print, which is numbered 259 and dated 1394, begins there. The print depicts an elegantly-dressed assembly in a room lit by a chandelier. At center, a small group of bearded men wearing leafy loincloths appear to recoil from the torch held by a man in a plumed hat.

Subjects

• France > History > 14th century
• Woodcuts

Genre/Form

Woodcuts.

Note

• Caption title.

Biography (note)

• This print is based on an actual historical event that took place at the court of Charles VI of France on Jan. 28, 1393. Later known as the Bal des Ardents or the Ball of the Burning Men, it was originally intended as a celebration of the marriage of Catherine de Fastaverin, a lady-in-waiting to the queen, Isabeau. As part of the entertainment, several men of the court, including Charles himself, were costumed as wild men of the forest in linen garments covered with pitch and flax. These highly flammable garments caught fire when a torch was brought too close by the king's brother Louis, Duc de Orléans. The king had separated himself from the other wild men, and was protected by the Duchesse de Berry, who threw her skirt over him. The event had political repercussions, since Parisians viewed it as proof of the court's decadence and threatened to revolt against the excesses of the nobility.
• The words Fastnacht-Spiel in the print's caption refer to the Fastnachtspiele, a tradition that arose in Nuremberg, Germany, in the 1440s as a Carnival diversion. Young men, usually journeymen, went in costume from house to house, entertaining the inhabitants. This later developed into a more formal type of dramatic presentation.

Call Number

*MGZFD Anon Fas 1

OCLC

792742656

Title

Fastnacht-Spiel zu Paris und dessen böser Äusgang [graphic].

Imprint

[16--?]

Biography

This print is based on an actual historical event that took place at the court of Charles VI of France on Jan. 28, 1393. Later known as the Bal des Ardents or the Ball of the Burning Men, it was originally intended as a celebration of the marriage of Catherine de Fastaverin, a lady-in-waiting to the queen, Isabeau. As part of the entertainment, several men of the court, including Charles himself, were costumed as wild men of the forest in linen garments covered with pitch and flax. These highly flammable garments caught fire when a torch was brought too close by the king's brother Louis, Duc de Orléans. The king had separated himself from the other wild men, and was protected by the Duchesse de Berry, who threw her skirt over him. The event had political repercussions, since Parisians viewed it as proof of the court's decadence and threatened to revolt against the excesses of the nobility.

The words Fastnacht-Spiel in the print's caption refer to the Fastnachtspiele, a tradition that arose in Nuremberg, Germany, in the 1440s as a Carnival diversion. Young men, usually journeymen, went in costume from house to house, entertaining the inhabitants. This later developed into a more formal type of dramatic presentation.

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

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

Connect to:

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Added Author

Charles VI, King of France, 1368-1422. Associated name

Research Call Number

*MGZFD Anon Fas 1