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Not currently on display at the V&A

Print Collection

Lithograph
1846 (Published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Catarina provided the Danish dancer Lucile Grahn with a strong dramatic role and a most effective death scene when she dies protecting her lover. Her dancing was much admired, but it was her naturalness and expressiveness that aroused particular admiration - as did her attractive bandit costume.
The dancing highlight was a 'pas stratégique', when Catarina instructed her sister brigands in musket drill and ended with the corps de ballet climbing up the rocky set before charging at the audience. "There is", remarked one commentator, "Something piquant in the contrast between the feminine gentleness and softness of appearance and the abrupt preciseness of military movements, and the handling of deadline weapons, which has in all times proved successful on the stage."


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePrint Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Lithograph coloured by hand
Brief description
Lucile Grahn in Caterina ou la Fille du Bandit, Her Majesty's Theatre, 3 March 1848. Lithograph by John Brandard, coloured by hand. Published 21 April 1846 by Messrs Fores, London.
Physical description
Caterina is shown standing in a mountainous landscape in front of a gorge and waterfall, crossed by a timber bridge. She is looking towards her left, over her left shoulder, with her left hand resting on her hip, and her right hand holding a muzzle that is resting on the ground. She wears a broad-brimmed conical hat decorated with pink ribbon, a black bolero with gold decorations, a blue calf-length skirt looped over with a pink, cream and black fringed sash. She wears cream ballet slippers with crossed ribbons. Other shadowy characters can be seen behind her, including three armed female dancers with similar hats.
Dimensions
  • Height: 40cm
  • Width: 28.2cm
Credit line
Bequeathed by Lady Mary Evans
Object history
The ballet Caterina was choreographed by Jules Perrot and opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, 3 March 1846. The ballet was based on an episode in the life of the painter Salvator Rosa; Caterina, dies when she flings herself between the painter and the sword of his rival. The role of the female bandit Caterina, provided a strong role for the noted dramatic ballerina, Danish-born Lucile Grahn, whose naturalness and expressiveness were much admired.
The music was by Cesare Pugni, the scenery by Charles Marshall and the choreography by Jules Perrot. The ballet was notable for its atmosphere and busy miming with swords and muskets.
An engraving related to this print, without the background, was made by A.H. Payne and published about the same time at Leipzig and Dresden with the title in German.
Historical context
The large souvenir prints of the Romantic ballet, issued in the 1830s and 1840s, are among the most evocative images of dance in the 19th century. Lithography, with its soft quality, enhanced by the delicate yet rich hand-colouring, was ideally suited to the subject - the ballerinas who dominated ballet in the mid-century and the romanticised settings in which they performed; style and subject were perfectly matched. The British lithographs are notable for capturing individual performers and their style, often clearly in a theatrical setting.
Subject depicted
Literary referenceCaterina ou la Fille du Bandit
Summary
Catarina provided the Danish dancer Lucile Grahn with a strong dramatic role and a most effective death scene when she dies protecting her lover. Her dancing was much admired, but it was her naturalness and expressiveness that aroused particular admiration - as did her attractive bandit costume.
The dancing highlight was a 'pas stratégique', when Catarina instructed her sister brigands in musket drill and ended with the corps de ballet climbing up the rocky set before charging at the audience. "There is", remarked one commentator, "Something piquant in the contrast between the feminine gentleness and softness of appearance and the abrupt preciseness of military movements, and the handling of deadline weapons, which has in all times proved successful on the stage."
Bibliographic reference
Ballet designs and Illustrations 1581-1940 A Catalogue Raisonné by Brian Reade. London:Her Majesty's Stationery Office: 1967
Collection
Accession number
S.2623-1986

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Record createdDecember 9, 2004
Record URL
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