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Lot Essay
This is a costume design for an opera with balletic interludes, Les Noces de Pélée et de Thétis, performed by King Louis XIV and members of his court at the Théâtre du Petit-Bourbon at the Louvre on 26 January 1654. The date, design and all the details of plot and staging of this piece of theater are known from a printed text published by Robert Ballard in 1654 which describes the action and lists the performers (the Bibliothèque de l’Institut in Paris owns a copy enriched with watercolors on vellums of the sets and costumes). Based on a libretto by Francesco Buti (1604-1682) and set to the music of Carlo Caprioli (c. 1620-c.1675), the ballet was choreographed by Isaac de Benserade (1612-1691), with sets designed by Giacomo Torelli (1608-1678) and the costumes principally conceived by Henri de Gissey.
Gissey was a draughtsman and designer who was appointed ‘dessinateur de la Chambre et du cabinet de Roi aux Menus Plaisirs’ (the organization in charge of all the preparations for royal ceremonies, events and festivities, down to the last detail of design and order) in the early years of the reign of King Louis XIV. Gissey’s most famous creations include the court costumes for the Ballet de la Nuit of 1653 which was produced with his frequent collaborator the musician Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), Cavalcade du Palais-Royal in 1656 and Carrousel in 1662, a spectacle on horseback involving some 500 noblemen plus attendants representing the nations of the world.
Other costume drawings for Les Noces de Pélée are in the Bibliothèque de l’Institut and in the Musée Carnavalet both in Paris while three others have appeared at auction (Sotheby’s, New York, 25 January 2002, lots 61-3). These drawings appear to be records of the characters, their costumes and attitudes, rather than actual designs.
Les Noces de Pélée et de Thétis is the story of the courtship and marriage of the nereid Thetis who, though admired by both Neptune and Jupiter, finally consented to the persistent attentions of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons. The nuptials were celebrated with great pomp on Mount Pelion, the centaur Chiron officiated and all the Deities attended except for the goddess of Discord.
As indicated by the inscription on it this drawing shows a costume worn by members of Peleus’s court. It was used for Act III, scene II, when Thetis finally surrenders to Peleus’s passion and the courtesans rejoice and start to sing and dance. The inscription on the present drawing and the printed text published by Ballard identify the courtesans as the duke of ‘Ioyeuse’ (Louis de Lorraine, duc de Joyeuse [1622-1654], who died just a few months after the representation), the duke of ‘Candalles’ (Louis-Charles-Gaston de Nogaret de La Valette de Foix, duc de la Valette et de Candale [1627-1658], Pair and Colonel général de France, known as the Beau Candale), the marquess of ‘Villequier’ (Louis-Marie Victor, duc d’Aumont and marquis de Genlis [1632-1704]), the marquess of ‘Gendis’ (Claude-Charles Brulart [d. 1673], marquis de Genlis from the end of 1653 after the death of his brother) and an unidentified ‘Sr. Le Conte’ (‘Le Comte’ in the libretto).
This drawing heightened with silver and gold is a fascinating testimony of the young Louis XIV’s passion for ballet and the important role it played at the court during the first years of his reign. He danced the leading roles in divertissements until the age of thirty, and one of his first acts upon assuming the throne in 1661 was to establish a royal academy of dance, which evolved into the Opéra.
Gissey was a draughtsman and designer who was appointed ‘dessinateur de la Chambre et du cabinet de Roi aux Menus Plaisirs’ (the organization in charge of all the preparations for royal ceremonies, events and festivities, down to the last detail of design and order) in the early years of the reign of King Louis XIV. Gissey’s most famous creations include the court costumes for the Ballet de la Nuit of 1653 which was produced with his frequent collaborator the musician Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), Cavalcade du Palais-Royal in 1656 and Carrousel in 1662, a spectacle on horseback involving some 500 noblemen plus attendants representing the nations of the world.
Other costume drawings for Les Noces de Pélée are in the Bibliothèque de l’Institut and in the Musée Carnavalet both in Paris while three others have appeared at auction (Sotheby’s, New York, 25 January 2002, lots 61-3). These drawings appear to be records of the characters, their costumes and attitudes, rather than actual designs.
Les Noces de Pélée et de Thétis is the story of the courtship and marriage of the nereid Thetis who, though admired by both Neptune and Jupiter, finally consented to the persistent attentions of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons. The nuptials were celebrated with great pomp on Mount Pelion, the centaur Chiron officiated and all the Deities attended except for the goddess of Discord.
As indicated by the inscription on it this drawing shows a costume worn by members of Peleus’s court. It was used for Act III, scene II, when Thetis finally surrenders to Peleus’s passion and the courtesans rejoice and start to sing and dance. The inscription on the present drawing and the printed text published by Ballard identify the courtesans as the duke of ‘Ioyeuse’ (Louis de Lorraine, duc de Joyeuse [1622-1654], who died just a few months after the representation), the duke of ‘Candalles’ (Louis-Charles-Gaston de Nogaret de La Valette de Foix, duc de la Valette et de Candale [1627-1658], Pair and Colonel général de France, known as the Beau Candale), the marquess of ‘Villequier’ (Louis-Marie Victor, duc d’Aumont and marquis de Genlis [1632-1704]), the marquess of ‘Gendis’ (Claude-Charles Brulart [d. 1673], marquis de Genlis from the end of 1653 after the death of his brother) and an unidentified ‘Sr. Le Conte’ (‘Le Comte’ in the libretto).
This drawing heightened with silver and gold is a fascinating testimony of the young Louis XIV’s passion for ballet and the important role it played at the court during the first years of his reign. He danced the leading roles in divertissements until the age of thirty, and one of his first acts upon assuming the throne in 1661 was to establish a royal academy of dance, which evolved into the Opéra.