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EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 5:1—Spectacle in the Baroque Age (Versailles: The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle) Prologue You have reached the half­way point in the course. I hope you are keeping pace with the readings, postings, and assignments. By the end of the last unit you should have turned in your first short essay (which I will have graded and back to you shortly). By the end of this unit your design exercise is due. Once you’ve submitted your design, don’t forget to visit the class gallery and post two critiques for images other than you own. If you haven’t told me what performance you are going to be reviewing, you need to do so immediately. Remember your review is due at the end of the course. As always, consult your syllabus for reading assignments etc., and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Onward and upward! Introduction Baroque is a word that has several meanings. For art historians, it designates the dominant style of European art that begins with the Counter­Reformation in Italy in the late 16 th century and extends into the early 18 th century: the period between Mannerism and Rococo. For the purpose of our class, baroque serves as a label for the period when this style in the arts flourished: the 17 th and much of the 18 th centuries. The entomology of baroque is interesting. The word may have come from two sources: 1) barroco which is Portuguese for a large, irregularly­shaped pearl, and 2) baroco which is Latin for an intricate and difficult bit of reasoning in a system of logic. Both of these possible sources indicate the term was coined to describe something that was intricate, overly elaborate, and even slightly grotesque. Baroque was initially used as a term of derision and only later became more neutral and descriptive in its meaning. Baroque art emerges in late 16 th century in Italy during the Counter­Reformation. The Counter­Reformation was a conscious movement in the Catholic Church to challenge and reverse the influence of the Protestant Reformation. The Counter­Reformation took many forms, from changes in Church doctrine to, on occasion, open warfare against the Protestants. The arts were used as a form of propaganda, to catch the eye and ear of the spectator and hold them enthralled to Church ideology. In the arts, the Baroque represented a conscious challenge to the order and rationality of the Renaissance. Classicism was infused or replaced by emotionalism and vitality. Religious art was created to magnify and exalt the Lord, and by extension, the Catholic Church. Secular art was created to magnify and exalt the King and State. The ultimate objective in the arts was to overwhelm the senses. In every respect, the Baroque was an age of spectacle. No world was more brilliant in the Baroque age than that which was created at Versailles by Louise XIV (1643–1715). Louis ascended to the French throne at the age of 5 and ruled for 73 years, during which time France became Europe’s preeminent military and cultural power. The vast palace complex at Versailles that was renovated and enlarged over the course of his reign, and from which Louis administered his empire, epitomizes
1 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 the Baroque—its size, variety, and richness functioned as an awe­inspiring stage setting where the Sun King was the principal actor. In this lesson we will examine the most spectacular festival held at Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, “The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle.” This festival extended over the period of a week in 1664, and included processions, tournaments, feasts, ballets, and plays. Its impact was tremendous and its memory—in court circles—was legendary. A collection of engravings was published documenting and commemorating this baroque extravaganza. Like all aspects of life at Versailles, “The Pleasure of the Enchanted Isle” served as an exalted model that Louis’ fellow monarchs would be inspired to emulate well into the 18 th century. At the end of this lesson you will be able to browse through a collection of historic images of baroque performances, one of which you may want to select as the basis for your third short essay assignment.
2 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: Versailles Versailles is the grandest of royal palaces in France (and arguably Europe), but at the beginning of Louis XIV’s reign it was a modest hunting lodge, outside of Paris and surrounded by marshes. The transformation of this remote property into the center of the French Empire has been described by Gerald van der Kemp in Versailles (New York: Park Lane, 1989) as “the result of a combination of exceptional circumstances, both political and religious in nature”( p.8). Van der Kemp writes: When his father died in 1643, Louis XIV was five years old. His mother, Anne of Austria, was Queen Regent and governed with the help of her prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin. The nobility and parliaments attempted to regain the privileges taken from them by Cardinal Richelieu, and as a result the ruinous civil war called the Fronde broke out. In the end, the country was saved only by the tenacity of Anne of Austria and the cunning of Mazarin. Louis XIV was to recall this troubled period all his life, and could never erase the memory of the Parisians invading his apartments in the Palais Royal, and that of the sudden flight of the royal family to the chateau of Saint­Germain­en­Laye on an icy winter’s day. His distrust of Paris and of the nobility never left him. When peace returned, the King therefore decided to settle some distance from the city in the chateau of the Tuileries with its magnificent gardens laid out by Le Notre. But even the Tuileries was too vulnerable and Louis XIV went a step further by moving to the chateau of Saint­Germain­en­ Laye…. Saint­Germain was near Versailles and, at the time of his liaison with the blonde Louise de la Valliere, Louis XIV began to house his mistress in the chateau of Versailles, rebuilt by Philibert Le Roy in 1631. The façade was decorated by Louis le Vau with bricks and stone, sculpture, wrought iron and gilt lead. Le Notre took the design for the gardens by Boyceau and Menours and gave them greater breadth and dignity—and then the fountains began to play.” (pp 8­9) I love Van de Kemp’s last line, “the fountains began to play.” It slyly reinforces the fact that the refurbishment of Versailles was inspired by Louis’ need for a place of refuge for his love­affairs, and only gradually, over many years of transformation became the seat of government. Francois Bluche in his splendid Louis XIV (New York: Franklin Watts, 1990) writes, “Louis improved the chateau to act as a setting for his amorous encounters. If he made his gardens such a magnificent feature, it was in order to seduce his mistress—although also to give him an opportunity for inviting a larger court there” (p.194). “The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle,” which took place in the gardens, provided Louis with just such an opportunity to invite his court to Versailles, “signaling Louis’ attachment to this still rather modest royal residence” (Bluche, p. 180).
3 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 WEBLINK: Take a few minutes to explore the official French government web­site for Versailles: http://www.chateauversailles.fr/ This is an excellent website. Click on “English” and visit the four links next to Chateau, and the Museum.
4 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: The Players “The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle” was a mammoth undertaking. It was the first great festival organized at Versailles. It was self­consciously conceived of as a vast spectacle in order to encourage the admiration of the nobility and people “for the king, the wealth of his kingdom, the glory of his reign and the talents of his artists” (Bluche, p. 179). The festival was dedicated to the two queens of the court: the queen mother and Louis’ wife. Work on the festival began in December 1663 and continued until May 1664. The festival involved the organizing genius and artistic contributions of a great many individuals. Louis charged his close friend, Francois de Beauvillier, the duc de Saint­Aiganan, with the overall organization of the festivities. Beauvillier found his inspiration in several episodes from a long Renaissance poem, Orlando Furioso (1516), by Ludovico Ariosto. Beauvillier “took as the subject the palace of Alcina [home of a beautiful enchantress], which provided him with the title of the Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle. It was there that, according to Ariosto, the brave knight Roger [portrayed by the King] and other knights were kept captive by the beauty and enchantments of Alcina, only to be released, when they had sampled the pleasures of the island, by the wave of a wand which broke her magical powers” (Bluche, p.180). This story of sublime captivity served as the pretext for the dancing, music, comedy, tournaments, fireworks, receptions, feasts, and concerts which made up the festival. The staging areas for the festival were the beautifully renovated gardens of Versailles that were designed by Andre Le Notre. Le Notre enlarged the gardens, breaking their monotony by using the unevenness of the natural terrain to its best advantage; creating terraces, steps and great staircases. “He also carefully created a transition between the stone of the building and the beds of flowers by means of expanses of water in which the foliage is reflected” (Van der Kemp, p.162). Jean de La Fontaine, the great poet and Le Notre’s contemporary, said of him, “He had the power to command Nature; she obeyed him because he asked of her what she was able to give” (Van der Kemp, p. 162). The stage settings and special effects were designed by Carlo Vigarani. He was the son of the prominent Italian designer Gaspare Vigarani, who had been brought to France in 1659 by Cardinal Mazarin to design the festivities surrounding the marriage of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa of Austria. The elder Vigarani went on to design the Salle des Machines at the Tuileries Palace in Paris, which was the largest theatre in the world. When Gaspare died in 1663, his son Carlo was given his post as court designer, a position Carlo retained until 1680. The great composer Jean­Baptiste Lully was in overall charge of the music for “The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle.” Lully was a musical genius and the premier composer in France during the reign of Louis XIV. He composed all forms of music including operas, ballets, incidental music for the theatre, chamber pieces, and state and religious compositions. He was very close to the King and exercised great influence at court during his life time.
5 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 WEBLINK: For more information about Lully visit: http://www.hoasm.org/VIIB/Lully.html All of the dramatic events of the festival were under the direction of Moliere, one of the greatest writers of comedy and all­round­man­of­the­theatre the world has ever known (see Hartnoll pp.102–112). With the aid of a small army of actors, clowns, and stage­ hands, Moliere directed the festivities which included performances of his plays Les Facheux and Tartuffe, and a comedy­ballet written in collaboration with Lully: The Forced Marriage. Louis XIV invited over 600 guests to witness the festival. The court was assembled on Monday, May 5, and the proceeding began on Wednesday, May 7, finally ending seven days later on Tuesday, May 13.
6 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section C: The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle What follows is a presentation of some of the historic engravings of “The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle.” The engravings were created by Israel Sylvestre based on Carlo Vigarani’s designs. Several of the pictures depict the Royal court at the bottom of the image, with their backs toward us, observing the proceedings. The silhouette of Louis XIV, in a large hat and wig, sitting occasionally under a canopy, is in the center­front of the assembled audience. The descriptions of the different episodes that accompany the engravings come from Francois Bluche’s Louis XIV (pp. 180­183). The engravings were very influential in commemorating and visually perpetuating memories of this extravagant baroque spectacle. Day one: At nightfall on the first day, a rich procession was held introducing the principal characters in the festival. The procession was led by the King’s herald, three pages, four trumpeters, and two percussionists, all richly costumed. Then the King came—representing the knight Roger—dressed like a Greek warrior and mounted on one of the finest horses. The King was preceded by a retinue that included eight heralds with trumpets and two drummers. The King was followed by other mounted knights who are also captives on the enchanted isle. After the procession’s entrance, the knights circled the garden setting and formally greeted the queens. The second episode consisted of the arrival of Apollo’s golden chariot [much more like a float], twenty­four feet long and eighteen feet high and pulled by four horses, depicting a variety of allegorical and mythological personages When the entry of Apollo’s chariot was concluded a tournament was held—in emulation of medieval jousts—where the king distinguished himself. Night had fallen but by candlelight, thirty­four musicians played a concert of Lully’s music. A magnificent reception, then followed by ballets representing the seasons, was presented. The ballet included appearances of some exotic animals from the menagerie at Versailles including a horse, an elephant, a camel and a bear. The day concluded with a magnificent feast served in the garden at an immense semicircular table lit by “an infinite number of candlesticks.” AUDIO CLIP: Click here to listen to “Ouverture d’Amadis from “Divertissements.” Day two: The following evening, under a makeshift fabric dome to protect the vast number of candles that illuminated the stage, which was set in front of the decorations for the palace of Alcina on the enchanted island, Moliere and Lully amused the assembled company with their pastoral musical The Princess of Elida. In this engraving note the arrangement of the audience who have a view of the stage, but even more importantly, the King and royal family. Day three: On the third day, on the same stage used the previous evening, the pastoral setting was transformed into a chivalric romance. The enchantress Alcina, realizing that the liberation of her captive knights would not be long delayed, sought to fortify her island. Carlo Vigarani designed a rock to rise from the waves to form a central island on
7 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 stage, flanked by two others. Three sea monsters of the deep rose up, carrying on their backs Alcina and two of her nymphs. Alcina and her nymphs presented greetings to the queen mother. Then Alcina returned to fortify the bastion while violins played and the façade of the palace opened to reveal four enormous giants. This was the signal for the ballet of Alcina’s palace to begin. The ballet involved a cast that included dwarfs, giants, demons, monsters and knights. The climax was reached when the knight Roger, in possession of a magic wand, broke the spell that ensnared the knights. The knights stormed the palace to the accompaniment of a tremendous firework display that left Alcina’s palace a pile of smoking cinders. Day four: With the destruction of the enchanted palace, the theme of The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle was somewhat lost in the ensuing entertainments that concluded the festival. On the fourth day, a tournament of mounted heads was held. A series of heads [prop ones] were mounted on spikes at the end of the palace tilt yard and each of them (a Turk’s, a Moor’s, and a Medusa’s) had to be either stabbed with or carried off on point to a javelin. The King, of course, won the competition. Day five: On the fifth day, the King invited the court to view his menagerie and to admire his large collection of exotic birds. In the evening, after a splendid reception, Moliere’s play Les Facheux—with music by Lully—was presented in the chateau. Day six: The King reprised the tournament of mounted heads, followed by a dinner with a lottery. The prizes for the lottery consisted of precious stones and beautiful pieces of furniture and silverware. Louis rigged the lottery so the grandest prize would go to the queen. In the evening the courtiers were offered an early three act version of Moliere’s controversial masterpiece Tartuffe, a play Louis XIV found richly amusing. Day seven: The final day of the festival was given over to yet another heads tournament which confirmed the prowess of the King. That evening, Moliere and Lully’s comic­ ballet The Forced Marriage was presented in which the King danced a part. On the following day, Wednesday, May 14, the King and his court took their leave of Versailles and departed to the palace at Fontainebleau. The festival had been incredibly expensive to produce, but was worth it to the King. Francois Bluche in summing up The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle has written: As for the king, he had shown himself to be respectful towards his mother, solicitous towards his queen, in love with his mistress, a good horseman, an able jouster, an attentive host, a notable impresario and a strikingly good producer of plays. He had given his court a style to follow in beauty, youth, taste, intelligence, and knightly and sporting pursuits. He had enticed the principal figures of the realm into a wonderful world of Ariosto knights, and thereby shaped, formed and moulded his court. (p.183)
8 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Images of Baroque Performance What follows is a collection of images of Baroque performance. You may want to select one of these images as the subject of your third essay which is due at the end of Unit 6. 1. Le Malade Imaginaire, 1674. Engraving. Paris Bibliotheque Nationale. 2. A Performance in the Cardinal’s Palace in 1641 in the presence of Louis XIII, Anne of Austria and Cardinal Richelieu. Oil on canvas. Paris, Musee des Arts Decoratifs. 3. LeKain as Gengis Kan in Voltaire’s L’ Orphelin de la Chine, 1776. Watercolor. Paris, Comedie Francaise. 4. James Wright, A Provincial Theatrical Performance in England, 1788. Colored engraving. London, Victoria and Albert Museum. 5. Johan Zoffany, A Performance by Garrick (Lethe, or Aesop in the Shades), 1766. Oil on canvas. Birmingham, City Museum and Art Gallery. 6. J. G. Ziesenis, Diderot’s Le Pere de Famille. Watercolor. Paris, Comedie Francaise. 7. Samuel De Wilde, Maria Theresa Bland, Ursula Booth, and John Bannister in The Children in the Wood, 1793. Oil on canvas. Maugham Collection of Theatrical Paintings, National Theatre. 8. Johan Zoffany , David Garrick and Susannah Maria Cibber in Venice Preserv’d, 1762­63. Oil on canvas. London, Maugham Collection of Theatrical Paintings, National Theatre. 9. Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, Scene from the theatrical performance on the occasion of the nuptials of the Royal Prince of Poland, Prince Elector of Saxony. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 10. Giacomo Torelli, Set design for Bellerofonte by Francesco Sacratti, 1642.
9 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 5:2—The Bibiena Family Introduction The Baroque age was a time when not only royal but artistic dynasties flourished. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the theatre, where several notable Italian families emerged in the 17 th and 18 th centuries that supplied several generations of designers for the European stage. The most prominent and influential of these was the Bibiena clan. Between 1680–1780 three generations of this family worked as painters, architects, and stage designers at many of the leading courts of Europe: from Paris, Rome and Vienna, to Stockholm and St. Petersburg. In this lesson we will examine the work of the Bibiena Family. After some introductory remarks we will look at examples of their work that have been preserved in Giuseppe Galli Bibiena’s Architetture, e Prospective (Architectural and Perspective Designs) that was published in 1740. Then you will be able to view a video clip from Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 film version of Mozart’s Magic Flute. The film was shot in the 18 th century theatre at Drottningholm, in Stockholm, using scenery that was designed by Carlo Bibiena (1728–1787) in 1774. It will provide you with a rare opportunity to see 18 th century spectacle in action. If you are interested in finding out more about the Bibienas and 18 th century stage design, you should consult these excellent sources:
· A. Hyatt Mayor, The Bibiena Family. New York: 1945.
· Richard Southern, Changeable Scenery. London: 1952.
· MargaretteBaur­Heinhold, The Baroque Theatre: A Cultural History of the 17 th and 18 th Centuries. 1967.
· Donald Oenslager, Stage Design: Four Centuries of Scenic Invention. New York: Viking Press, 1975.
10 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: Family Lore The Bibiena family came from the Tuscan hill town of Bibiena. The practice of assuming the name of the place you came from is an ancient one that extends back thousands of years. The earliest family member to be associated with the theatre was Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena, who besides being a prince of the Church, was an amateur playwright of some prominence in 16 th century Italy (Oenslager, p. 57). The family’s connection with stage design began with Ferdinando Bibiena (1657–1743). Ferdinanado’s father, Giovanni Maria Galli da Bibiena, had been a minor painter in Bologna, Italy, who transmitted his enthusiasm for art and the theatre to his four sons. At the age of 20, Ferdinando, who had been trained as a draughtsman in architecture and mechanics, begins to do work as a designer of stage sets, wall decorations, buildings, and formal gardens. Ferdinando’s work attracted the attention of Charles III of Spain, who commissioned Ferdinando to design theatrical settings for his wedding feast. Ferdinando’s designs were impressive and brought more royal commissions. Good fortune also shined on Charles III of Spain, who as a member of the Hapsburg family (the hereditary rulers of Austria) inherited the Austrian throne and become Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. When the King received his promotion, Ferdinando Bibiena, his brother Francesco (1659–1739), and their families followed him to Vienna where they designed court spectacles, executed commissions for the Church, and worked on various civic design projects. The Bibiena’s principle patrons were the nobility, the Church, and municipal authorities, a wealthy and powerful cliental. The family was skilled at creating eye­catching designs that in the best Baroque tradition magnified and exalted the public personas of their patrons. Their work was the perfect visual expression of Baroque age. Commissions took family members all over Europe to work. Vienna would serve as the official headquarters for the family business, but Bologna remained the home base for three generations of Bibienas. Donald Oenslager—the great 20 th century, U.S., stage designer, scholar, and teacher—has written: The Bibienas were journeyman artists in the true sense, implanting their Italian style of scenery on the stages of all the northern capitals of Europe. They were a close­knit family, cooperative, sometimes working together and always abetting one another’s careers. Their services were everywhere in great demand, and together they established “the Bibiena style” which has survived as a meaningful scenic style to this day. (p. 58)
11 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: The Bibiena Style The Bibiena family shared an aesthetic vision that was grounded in a firm understanding of the technical conventions of the 17 th and 18 th century stage. They were deeply familiar with the work of the artists who preceded them (i.e. Serlio, Palladio and Scamozzi), and did not hesitate to borrow from these artists’ work. Each generation of the Bibienas was instructed in drawing, religiously copying the work of earlier family members, which has made it difficult for scholars to tell one Bibienas’ work from another. Oenslager in discussing the Bibiena style has written: Eclecticism was at the heart of the Bibienas’ unfettered style and voguish mannerisms. They shamelessly assimilated all styles. No holds with the past were barred, and theirs was the right to invade and exploit every architectural system. They distorted the architecture of Greece and Rome to suit their purposes, and when desirable they deformed the classical orders. . . . the Bibienas, through their interest in defining locale in scenography, were among the first artists to explore and popularize Gothic architecture with their designs of scenes for prisons, crypts, and fortresses. Thus, they opened the way for the significant revival of Gothic romanticism in the baroque age.” (p. 58) The most important innovation of the Bibienas was the introduction and popularization of scena par angolo (angled perspective). Renaissance stage design was founded on one­ point perspective, which meant that there was one ideal seat in the theatre (the king’s or duke’s chair). All stage settings were designed to be viewed from that one central, ideal position in the auditorium. Carlo Vigarani’s designs for “The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle,” which we looked at in the last lesson, are perfect examples of this principle (remember the figure of Louis XIV in the center­foreground of each sketch?). Stage settings in this style observed a strict axial symmetry, which means that one side of the stage setting mirrored the other. As the spectator’s eye moved into the stage picture, the illusion of stage space was reduced with the creation of a tunnel­like effect. Scena par angolo used two or three point perspective in such away to suggest a diagonal orientation to the stage setting. Instead of having the spectator’s eye travel up into the center of the stage picture, scena par angolo directed the spectator’s vision to the left or right. An early use of this device can be seen in Ferdinando Bibiena’s 1687 drawing for Dido Giuliano. In this drawing the stage is flanked, left and right, by imposing arcades of baroque columns. In the center of the setting is a massed forest of identical columns, splitting our vision and directing our gaze on diagonals to the left and right. At the end of each of these deep alley ways he repeats the technique, using multiple perspective points, to create the illusion of an ever­expanding horizon. The visual effect is not unlike that which is created by the famous Flatiron Building in New York City. The use of multi­point perspective provided stage designers with an additional technique for making small spaces seem vast. Not only were spectators impressed with the illusion
12 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 of space they actually observed, but the suggestion of even vaster spaces, just beyond the proscenium opening, were a powerful stimulus to the spectators’ imagination. Many of the Bibienas’ designs have a sense of grandeur and dynamism because of their masterful use of this device. Bibiena scholar A. Hyatt Mayor has written: “These restless flights of architecture running diagonally offstage toward undetermined distances revolutionized and dominated scenic design for most of the eighteenth century” (introduction to Dover edition of Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, Architectural and Perspective Designs, NY: Dover, 1964; p. vi).
13 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section C: Architectural and Perspective Designs The best way to gain an appreciation of the work of the Bibiena family is to look at examples of their work. In 1740, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, financed the costly job of reproducing 50 drawings by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (1696–1756) in the most expert engravings ever made from the work of any member of the Bibiena family. The book, Architectural and Perspective Designs, is a spectacular record of Giuseppe’s designs, and the Bibiena style. It is a particularly valuable book since practically all of Giuseppe Bibiena’s original work has vanished. Giuseppe was Ferdinando’s son and inherited his father’s genius and position as the principal “theatrical engineer and architect” to the Viennese court. I have selected six engravings from Architectural and Perspective Designs for your contemplation. They are representative of the range of work that is to be found in this important book. Funereal Monument. Stage design wasn’t the only area where the Bibienas worked. A. Hyatt Mayer has commented, “A sumptuous spectacle marked each turning point of a sovereign’s life, from his christening to his lying in state” (v). The funeral rites for royalty provided ample opportunity for stage designers to practice their art and craft. The catafalque in this illustration is tall and narrow to fit into a Gothic court chapel in Vienna. The book contains a number of designs for royal funereal monuments and catafalques. View of Rome. In the 18 th century, drawings and paintings of cityscapes showing bits and pieces of classical architecture juxtaposed with “modern” structures were popular. In the foreground of this engraving we see an Egyptian obelisk and bits and pieces of Roman architecture and statuary. To the left and right, and in the distance, is the “modern” city, stylistically emulating and employing the lessons from the past; or, is the illustration intended to be viewed in a more ironic light, as a cautionary tale? Perhaps the background is merely a dream image of what once was? The illustration can certainly support both interpretations. Scene from the theatrical performance on occasion of the nuptials of the Royal Prince of Poland, Price Elector of Saxony. Four of the engravings in the book are identified as being for this royal nuptial. Note Giuseppe Bibiena’s use of scena par angolo to increase the illusion of space. Can you identify how the furniture in the room, in its design, stylistically emulates the fanciful architecture? Christ on his way to be crucified. Bibiena created a series of images—set dramatically on intersecting staircases—showing the figure of Christ being led off to be crucified. Can you find the figure of Christ in this engraving? You have to look hard. The human and divine drama is dwarfed by Bibiena’s architectural setting with its soaring arches and multi­story colonnade. Garden setting. Although this is not identified as a stage setting, the histrionic actions of the characters in the foreground in their exotic costumes seem to indicate that it is. Indeed, the sumptuous garden with its statues, topiary, fountain, and pavilion appears to function as a backdrop for the scene that is taking place. This is the only garden setting that was included in the book.
14 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Scene from the theatrical performance on the occasion of the nuptials of the Prince Elector of Bavaria. Yet another use of scena par angolo to mitigate the tunnel­effect of the central corridor behind the table in the foreground. While the engraving seems heavy and dark, imagine what the scene would like under the flickering light of the many chandeliers and sconces that are being used to illuminate the room. Wouldn’t it be dazzling?
15 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section D: Drottningholm and The Magic Flute The selection of images you have just looked at might give you the impression that baroque theatres were quite large. While they sometimes were, they could also be quite intimate as is the case of the court theatre at Drottningholm, Sweden. Take a few minutes to explore the theatre’s website to see just what a surviving baroque theatre looks like. WEBLINK: Be sure to read the “history” page at this site. http://www.drottningholmsslottsteater.dtm.se/ Now watch the theatre in action. It was used in 1975 by the great Swedish film maker and theatre director Ingmar Bergman as the setting for his cinematic version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote). The opera was written and performed for the first time in 1791 in Vienna. WEBLINK: For more information about Mozart and the opera please visit the following site: http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk/magflute/mflinks.htm Ingmar Bergman’s film is available on video and DVD and is a wonderful presentation of Mozart’s masterpiece. The scene I’ve selected for you to watch is the opening moment of the opera when Prince Tamino enters pursued by a dragon. Tamino calls for help and faints from exhaustion. Three magical women rescue him and kill the monster. VIDEO CLIP: Click here to see a excerpt from Ingmar Bergman’s version of The Magic Flute.
16 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 5:3—De Loutherbourg’s Eidopusikon and Panaoramas Introduction To complete this lesson you will need to read chapters 9–11 in Richard D. Altick’s The Shows of London (pp. 114–162), which is on e­reserve. The Shows of London is an excellent study of various forms of popular visual entertainment that could be found in London (and other large cities) in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. Altick’s objective is to document and interpret “what Londoners paid to gaze at” (p.3). What they “paid to gaze at” consisted of a wide variety of visual diversions and entertainments that included museums with their collections of found and manufactured curiosities, performing animals and birds, side­shows with human oddities, waxworks, mechanical displays and automatons, pleasure gardens, art exhibits, panoramas, dioramas, and magic lantern shows. Until Altick’s book was published in 1978, the “shows” he writes about (“exhibitions” in the parlance of the times) were given scant scholarly attention. What Altick persuasively demonstrated is that these exhibitions and shows constituted an important part of popular culture and a window on “what went on inside ordinary Londoners’ minds” (p.4). He theorizes that these shows were an “alternative medium to print” that appealed to a wide cross­section of the population. Altick writes: To those who could and did read, exhibitions served as a supplement to books, particularly to illustrate in tangible form some of the most popular kinds of informational literature in various periods: narratives of exploration and travel (later including ethnography), treatises on pseudo­ science (especially natural history), histories (including the stories of momentous recent events), works describing successive centers of archaeological discovery. To the uneducated, exhibitions served as surrogates for such books, telling them as much about these subjects of civilized human interest as they were likely to ever know. To both the literate and the illiterate they were a prime means by which the mind and imagination could be exercised and daily routine experience given occasional welcome patches of variety and color. They were an indispensable way of momentary escape from the dullness, the mental vacuity, the constriction of horizons, the suppression of the imagination which were too often the price of life in the enveloping city. (pp. 3–4) The Epidopuskion and the panorama are two examples of this type of spectacle. They represented efforts on the part of artists and showmen to engage, envelope, and overwhelm the senses of spectators with moving pictures, or with paintings of tremendous size and scope. If this sounds as if it might be a low­tech precursor to television, video games, motion pictures, and even high­tech amusement parks like Universal Studio and Disney World, it is. In this lesson I want you to apply the knowledge you’ve gained by reading The Shows of London to your viewing of a series of paintings by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, the
17 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 creator of the Eidophusikon. After you have read my brief introductory comments and looked at the different pictures, you will be asked to post a response to a question that concludes the lesson. I hope you find in this exercise, to paraphrase Richard Altick, a momentary escape from the dullness, mental vacuity, and suppression of the imagination which can, on occasion, result from academic study.
18 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: My Encounter with de Loutherbourg The best way to understand and appreciate the achievements of Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (1740–1812) is to look at his paintings. I vividly remember when I first visited the Tate Gallery in London and saw my first de Loutherbourgs. They were large impressive canvases depicting avalanches, sea battles, and craggy mountain passes. I was familiar with de Loutherbourg’s reputation as an innovative stage designer who had worked for the great David Garrick at Drury Lane Theatre in the 1770s, and as the creator of the Eidophusikon (a word I was never quite sure how to pronounce); but I had never seen any of his actual paintings or designs. My only visual knowledge of de Loutherbourg came from a few poor quality black­and­white illustrations in theatre history books (see Hartnoll, p. 122). I was surprised and delighted when I found them at the Tate. The paintings were a revelation to me. I was captivated by de Loutherbourg’s use of color, his dramatic compositions, and stunning atmospheric effects. While I know a hushed silence pervaded the Tate Gallery, in memory, I can’t think of these paintings without hearing the deadly roar of an avalanche, the booming of cannons, or the blood­ curdling cries of travelers in distress; that’s how incredibly talented de Loutherbourg is at evoking the sights and sounds of the natural world. Indeed, Nature (both human nature and the natural world) is his primary subject. It was easy for me to see how his talents as a painter could be easily transferred to the theatre. There was something innately spectacular about his work. Standing in front of his paintings, written descriptions of his stage design that I had read years earlier suddenly made sense to me. It understood why he was able to command such an astonishing salary (500 pounds a year) from David Garrick—much more than any 18 th century playwright ever earned. I was also finally able to appreciate what de Loutherbourg was trying to achieve with his “elegant and highly favored spectacle the Eidophusikon” (Altick p. 124). He wanted to animate his paintings; to bring actual movement and atmospheric changes to the illusory, yet static worlds he created on his canvases. What could only be suggested in a painting could actually be realized using the wizardry and magic of the Eidophusikon. He was incorporating technology and multimedia effects into his art in a way that clearly anticipates 20 th and 21 st century developments.
19 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: A Virtual de Loutherbourg Gallery I wish we could all go to London and visit the Tate Gallery. Short of organizing what I am afraid would be a very expensive field­trip, I want you to look at six of de Loutherbourg’s paintings. Look closely and deeply at these works. Connect what you are seeing in the paintings to what Richard Altick writes about in The Shows of London. Try to imagine these images as if they were simply one in sequence of pictures displayed in the Eidophusikon, or as a spectacular panorama on stage. Also, as you view these works, keep in mind the designs of the Bibiena family. The lives and careers of Carlo Bibiena and Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg overlap, but their artistic visions and sensibilities appear to be quite different. Coalbrookdale by Night, 1801. Coalbrookdale is a town in England in the valley of the River Severn. It was one of the key centers of industrial activity at the beginning of the 19 th century. The painting is “an extraordinary work that is regarded as a seminal depiction of the first industrial nation” (http://www.fathom.com/feature/122210/). Travelers Attacked by Banditti, 1781. De Loutherbourg made this painting in the same year he stopped working at Drury Lane Theatre (he quit over a salary dispute with the Theatre’s manager, the great playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan). The painting depicts a group of bandits attacking a stagecoach in a narrow mountain pass. Bandits could be seen as both romantic outsiders (á la Robin Hood) or ruffians and thugs. Landscape with Carriage in a Storm, 1804. In this painting the menace of bandits has been replaced by the destructive majesty of nature, a recurrent subject in Romantic art. A Fishing Boat Brought Ashore Near Conway Castle A, 1800. Conway is located in North Wales and the castle, dominating the estuary of the River Conway, was a favorite picturesque subject for Romantic artists. Nature, once again, is a major player in this scene. The Smugglers Return, 1801. Doesn’t this painting look as if it could be a close­up shot from the previous work? Once again we have a raging storm, a rocky coastline, the ruins of a castle, and a group of bandits (smugglers in this case). Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588, 1796. De Loutherbourg was adept at painting historical and military scenes. In this painting he depicts the Battle of Gravelines where the Spaniards were defeated by the English and Dutch.
20 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Unit 5:4—Birth of Melodrama Reminder Please remember that by the end of this lesson your design exercise is due. Send your work as noted on the site. ,Your work will be displayed in the class gallery. Be sure to visit the gallery and post two critiques for images other than your own. Check the Calendar for the due date. Introduction At the end of the last lesson I asked you to compare and contrast de Loutherbourg’s art with that of the Bibienas. I hope you found the question provocative. Beyond the obvious, apples­and­oranges comparisons (i.e. paintings verses engravings, black­and­ white verse color, etc.), there are a number of interesting comparisons that can be made. When I look at de Loutherbourg’s and the Bibienas’ art, I am struck by the difference between interior and exterior space. The Bibienas created grandiose, carefully controlled interiors that vary little in the work of successive generations of the family. The interior spaces are ornate and overpowering. The human figures in the Bibienas’ engravings almost appear as afterthoughts—static additions to the compositions to provide a human reference point for the breadth­taking architecture that dwarfs them. The exterior scenes they created—gardens and city squares—are carefully balanced, manicured, and organized in a similarly repetitive and grandiose manner that emphasizes order and rationality for their elite patrons. De Loutherbourg, on the other hand, created majestic exterior settings that were wild and unpredictable. His exterior settings are dynamic and ever­changing. The human beings in his paintings appear dwarfed by natural forces, but the more we look at the compositions, the more our attention is riveted by the human dramas taking place. The figures are engaged in life­and­death struggles that reside at the center of the compositions. While we stand in awe at the power of nature, the fate of the travelers perilously close to being buried by an avalanche is what really grips us. It seems to me that de Loutherbourg’s paintings are grand, emotional, democratic pronouncements that challenge the rationality and elitism of the status­quo, of the Bibienas’ world view. The contrast that is being presented is the difference between the complacency and corruption of the Old Régime and the dangerous forces that were transforming Western Europe and ushering in the Romantic Movement. The creation of melodrama was an important manifestation of this Romantic impulse. De Loutherbourg’s paintings are Romantic dramas that utilize all the spectacular visual devices we associate with melodrama. In this lesson I want to examine the origins and characteristics of melodrama which emerged in the 18 th century and remains a popular and pervasive dramatic genre in 21 st century film and television. The information in this lesson will provide a foundation for your consideration of the material that will be covered in the next unit.
21 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section A: Forces of Change Europe—and the Americas—in the 18 th century experienced profound changes that transformed society and contributed to what historians characterize as the rise of “Bourgeois Theatre.” Melodrama is an important manifestation of this change. The intellectual cheerleaders for this transformation were the great philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment: Descartes, Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Kant. Several forces were transforming their worldview: Emergence of a global economy. The 18 th century saw enormous developments in trade and its geographic distribution. Prosperity in Europe was increasingly linked to its colonies and trading connections in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Colonies represented sources for raw materials and markets for manufactured goods. Colonies provided exotic commodities that were in rare supply in Europe. Gold and silver came in from the Spanish possessions in South and Central America; the Caribbean provided sugar, cacao, coffee, rice, and cotton, and North America fur, timber, tobacco, and cotton. Asia exported spices and exotic goods such as ivory, silk, silver and gold, and Africa—of course—slaves. Between 1492 and the abolition of slavery in Brazil and Cuba in 1880s, approximately 11 million black slaves were forcibly brought from Africa to the Americas. The emergence of a global economy would not have been possible without slavery. Beginnings of the industrial revolution. The transition from a predominantly agrarian to a predominantly industrial economy began in England in 1765 when James Watt invented the steam engine. Coal mining was the first industry to benefit from the development of steam technology. This new source of power gradually, over time, made possible the replacement of small workshops by large factories, and eventually with the inventions of the steamboat and steam engine revolutionized transportation. De Loutherbourg’s “Coalbrookdale by Night” is a compelling illustration of the beginnings of industrialization and suggestive of the problems that accompanied it. Other important technological developments in the early 19 th century included the introduction of gas lighting, and the invention of the telegraph—what has been called the Victorian internet. By the1820s the impact of technology and the industrial revolution was becoming more globally pervasive. Rise of the bourgeois. In the 18 th and early 19 th century the middle classes become more prominent and politically active. They were a receptive audience for the ideas and slogans of the Enlightenment. As Gronemeyer points out, “the middle class, the economically strong but politically powerless bourgeois, adopted the arguments of the enlightenment philosophers. In place of the decadent customs and life view of the courts, the bourgeois world demanded a more rational, humane, and just social order” (p.94). The old system of royal patronage in the arts (a system in which the Bibienas thrived), was eclipsed by a free­market capitalist system aimed at attracting popular audiences. Artists, with greater frequency, aimed their work at a middle class audience, and began reflecting bourgeois values and aspirations in the work they created.
22 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Age of Revolution. The last quarter of the18 th century, up until the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, has been labeled by historians as the Age of Revolution. It was a tumultuous period that witnessed the creation of the United States and the overthrow of the French monarchy. The political upheaval reflected the ideas of the Enlightenment. The successful American Revolution, inspired by John Locke’s philosophy of natural rights (i.e. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), served as an example for other nationalistic movements. These forces of change manifested themselves in the arts in the emergence of the Romantic Movement and melodrama.
23 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section B: Romanticism Romanticism begins in Germany during the 1770s, in a radical literary movement called Strum und Drang (storm and stress). The movement was inspired by a youthful nationalistic reaction to the cultural and political dominance of France and French Neoclassicism, which was an officially sanctioned aesthetic that exercised a stranglehold over many of the arts. Bristling under the political domination of France and Austria, young writers in Strasbourg and Frankfurt created dramas in defiance of the rules of neoclassicism. As the name “Storm and Stress” suggests, these artists were interested in extremes in action and emotion, of telling the stories of the common people compelled by circumstances to heroic action. They created large sprawling historic nationalistic works that resembled Shakespeare’s plays more than the refined tragedies of Racine. Serendipitously, and in reaction to the same cultural, politica, and economic forces, changes begin to occur in other areas of artistic production. By the end of the 18 th century, these changes had been given a name: Romanticism. While Romanticism, as a movement, developed in different ways in different countries, there are several assumptions that underpin it and serve to conveniently characterize it. These assumptions include: 1. Romantics exalted nature. As I mentioned in an earlier lesson, the Romantics were interested in both Nature, meaning the natural world, and Nature, meaning human nature. The Romantics viewed the natural world, in an ideal state, as an unsullied environment; pristine and pure—unspoiled by human intervention, an idyllic Eden. The natural world is contrasted in Romantic literature and art with urban environments and the trappings of civilization (i.e. reason, education, society, manners, etc.), which were frequently presented as corrupting influences. The Romantics were keenly interested in the idea of the “noble savage,” of natural man developing in oneness with Nature, untainted by the corrupting and decadent influences of civilization. 2. Romantics tended to distrust reason. Romanticism defined itself in reaction to the Enlightenment or “Age of Reason.” Reason could be an intellectual trap that suppressed more basic and fundamental reactions rooted in sentiment and feeling. The Romantics generally believed that humanity was good and man innately moral. Civilization (and education) corrupts. People should follow their instincts and natural feelings, because education might betray you. 3. Romantics tended to distrust society and civilization. The Romantics glorified natural and primitive people; the idealized image of the “noble savage” is an illustration of this. Common people were extolled over aristocrats, and Romantics believed in the superiority of a simple “natural” way of life. This distrust of society and civilization was in reaction to an array of urban problems and the beginnings of industrialism. It fueled an interest in antiquarian study on the lives of past peoples and civilizations. The past, not the future, was the hope of humanity.
24 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 4. Romantics promoted the equality of man. The Romantics believed that there were strong tendencies in religion and politics toward democratization and tolerance. These were values they embodied in their work and politics. 5. Romantics stressed the importance of details in their work. The Romantics were interested in the particular, the specific, the unique, and the grotesque; in contrast to Neoclassicists who stressed “norms” and idealized standards of beauty, verisimilitude, and decorum. The Romantics believed that details offered pathways to truth. Only by studying the specific can you reach the general. Nature, they believed, in its abundant complexity, was the only necessary teacher. 6. Romantics believed that all people must search for truth and perfection. The Romantics, in some ways, saw themselves as medieval knights on a quest for the Holy Grail. They believed that the highest aspiration human beings could have was the search for truth and perfection, even though it’s not attainable in this life. It was the journey, not the destination that counted. The search for truth and perfection frequently brought with it sadness and melancholy—particularly for the sensitive artist. 7. Romantics exalted the artist. The Romantics believed that artists were societies’ new high priests and prophets. Artists possessed a special insight into society because they were classic “outsiders.” Art was personal and introspective, a better form of knowledge that could show us the truth. Art also offered spiritual solace to humankind at a time when the role of organized religion was being questioned in society.
25 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section C: Melodrama Melodrama was the most popular and long­lasting theatrical manifestation of the Romantic impulse. The term, “melodrama” is a joining of two words melody and drama that was coined to identify plays that were performed with musical accompaniment. The term came into common usage near the end of the 18 th century. Oscar Brockett and Franklin Hildy in History of the Theatre (New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2003), provide an excellent description of melodrama when they write: The basic characteristics of melodrama can be summarized briefly: a virtuous hero (or heroine) is relentlessly hounded by a villain and is rescued from seemingly insurmountable difficulties only after undergoing a series of threats to life, reputation, or happiness; an episodic story unfolds rapidly after a short expository scene; each act ends with a strong climax; all important events occur on stage and often involve elaborate spectacle (such as battles, floods, or earthquakes) and local color (such as festivals, dances, or picturesque working conditions); typical plot devices include disguise, abduction, concealed identity, and fortunate coincidence; strict poetic justice is meted out, for, although they may succeed until the final scene, the villains are always defeated; comic relief is provided by a servant or a companion to one of the principal characters; song, dance, and music provide additional entertainment and underscore the emotional values of scenes. Melodrama, with its simple, powerful stories, unequivocal moral tone, and elements drawn from popular entertainment, could be understood and enjoyed by the least sophisticated of theatergoers. Probably for this reason, melodrama was largely responsible for bringing into the nineteenth­century theatre a large popular audience comparable to that of motion pictures and television in the twentieth century. (pp. 304­305) Melodrama presents human experience in a simplified and idealized manner. There is little subtlety in characterization and little internalized character development. If a melodramatic character creates a vivid impression, it is more the result of the actor’s rather than the writer’s art. The conflicts in melodrama are all external; it is a drama of near total action and reaction. It is a world where virtue is rewarded and villainy is always punished. Take a minute to view my performance of “The World’s Shortest Melodrama.” It captures the essential characteristics of the genre and gives me an opportunity to make a spectacle of myself. VIDEO CLIP: Click here to see the World’s Shortest Melodrama, “You Must Pay the Rent.” WEBLINK: While melodrama has sometimes been viewed pejoratively, it remains an important dramatic genre. To find out more about how media historians and critics view melodrama in relationship to film and television, visit the following web­site:
26 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/melodrama/melodrama.htm
27 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 Section D: The Spectacle of Melodrama One of the great appeals of melodrama has always been its reliance on enthralling spectacle. It is an entertainment carefully calculated to dazzle the eye and provoke strong emotions either through displays of local color or the presentation of astonishing, nail­ biting events. In the next Unit we will look closely at three classic melodramas: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Black Crook, and Ben Hur. I want to conclude this lesson by presenting you with a gallery of melodramatic imagery. The images are paintings, engravings and photographs made to market and promote different melodramatic productions and performers in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries.
· Honore Daumier, In the Theater, 1860­64. Daumier is a fascinating artist and shrewd observer of life. In cartoons, engravings, paintings, and sculpture he has left us a vivid picture of 19 th century France. I love this painting, because it dramatically captures the dynamics of melodrama. A dangerous scene is taking place on the stage. One character is dead and the villain—dressed in black—has the heroine enthralled by his mesmerizing gesture. The audience sits on the edge of their seats, gripped by a visceral excitement and staring helplessly at the scene with terror and wonder. Their faces are illuminated by the ambient gaslight streaming from the stage. Mid­way between the audience and the actors we can see the conductor of the orchestra whose musical accompaniment emotionally manipulates the audiences’ reactions.
· Mrs. Stanley as Ulin, Demon of Fire. In the 19 th century printmakers sold simple, hand­colored images of the popular actors and actresses of the day as souvenirs to enthusiastic playgoers. These are an early form of both advertising and merchandising—where the performer’s image becomes a desirable commodity. In this two­penny print we see the actress Mrs. Stanley in a forgotten melodrama. Note her extravagant costume with its skull­and­cross bones: an emblem of terrorism on the high­seas. Also notice her staff around which is coiled a fearsome viper. The histrionic pose Mrs. Stanley is in has the same dynamic and exaggerated quality that characterizes the actors in Daumier’s painting.
· Stage Effects, illustration from the London Illustrated News. 19 th century theatre relied on a wide range of special effects and stage magic that were achieved with relatively simple mechanical devices that extend back to antiquity. This page provides an interesting behind­the­scenes look at some of these technical devices.
· Poster for Boucicault’s Arrah­na­Pogue at the Princess Theatre in London. Dion Boucicault was a master of melodrama. The poster illustrates one of the dramatic high­points in the play. The hero is scaling the wall of a formidable castle to rescue the heroine who is being pursued by the villain on the rocky ramparts above the castle. The scene is visually spectacular and an effective visual “tease” to lure curious spectators into the theatre.
28 EA/Unit 5 master_18 th century.doc Friday, November 04, 2005 · Poster for Boucicault’s Streets of London at the Princess Theatre in London. Boucicault was a playwright, actor, director, theatre manager, but most importantly, an entrepreneur. Moving back and forth between England and the United States, he would make small changes in his plays in order that they would appeal to local audiences. Consequently, when Streets of London was performed in New York, it was re­titled Streets of New York. One of the high­points of the play occurs when the hero goes into a burning house to rescue the heroine. Fire was an ever­present danger on stage in the 19 th century when theatres were illuminated with gaslight. Theatres burned down with tragic regularity, sometimes resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. Staging a fire in a play was particularly tricky business.
· Photograph of the train crash from The Whip, 1909. The Whip told the story of a plot to kidnap a racehorse on a train journey to Newmarket. One of the most sensational scenes in the play was a train crash, which is depicted in this photograph.
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