Description
This drawing represents the elaborate stage set for the opera-ballet Les Muses that premiered in 1703 at the Opéra, the most prestigious public theater in Paris. In a city that thrived on spectacle, the opera-ballet was one of the most fashionable forms of entertainment in the 18th century. Berain’s drawing relates to the third scene in the first of four acts, "La Pastorale," in which shepherds and shepherdesses pay homage to deities in a wooded grove. The celebration, accompanied by flutes and a musette (small bagpipe) comprised a lighthearted musical interlude or divertissement, an indispensable component of the opera-ballet.
Provenance
Unidentified collector's mark, verso, lower left, in black ink [si?]. [Christie's, London (19 March 1975), no. 65, pl. 8]; [Yvonne Ffrench (according to final price list issued by Christie's)]; [Shepherd Gallery, New York]; purchased in 1975.
Design for the Divertissement from "La Pastorale" (First Entrée of the opera-ballet "Les Muses" by Danchet and Campra")
1703
Accession Number
2008.379
Medium
pen and black ink and brush and gray wash with red, blue, and yellow wash, with graphite
Dimensions
Sheet: 35.1 x 46.3 cm (13 13/16 x 18 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Tags
Drawing Baroque (1600–1750) Ink Graphite & Pencil French
Background & Context
Background Story
Jean I Berain (1640-1711) was a French designer known for the elegantly composed, precisely observed designs for court entertainments that make him one of the most important designers of the French Baroque. Design for the Divertissement from La Pastorale from 1703 depicts a design for the divertissement from La Pastorale—the first entree of the opera-ballet Les Muses by Danchet and Campra—in the elegantly composed, precisely observed manner that distinguishes Berain's best work. Berain was the most important designer of court entertainments in the reign of Louis XIV, and his elegantly composed, precisely observed designs represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French decorative art.
Cultural Impact
Design for the Divertissement from La Pastorale is important in the history of French decorative art because it demonstrates the elegantly composed, precisely observed manner that Berain—the most important designer of court entertainments in the reign of Louis XIV—brought to design as one of the most important designers of the French Baroque. Berain's elegantly composed, precisely observed designs for court entertainments—representing one of the most accomplished traditions in French decorative art—were enormously influential in the development of French Baroque design, and the 1703 design shows this tradition at its most elegantly composed.
Why It Matters
Design for the Divertissement from La Pastorale is Berain's elegantly composed French Baroque design: a court entertainment design rendered in the precisely observed manner of the most important designer of court entertainments in the reign of Louis XIV. The 1703 design shows French Baroque decorative art at its most elegantly composed.
