{"id":281,"date":"2023-03-05T10:44:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T10:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/?p=281"},"modified":"2023-05-29T11:53:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T10:53:50","slug":"marie-salles-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/2023\/03\/05\/marie-salles-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Marie Sall\u00e9’s Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
Marie Sall\u00e9 drawn by Nicolas Lancret, as published in Paris. Source: Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Marie Sall\u00e9 (1709-1756) was an acclaimed French dancer who performed and created dances in venues as disparate as the Parisian foires<\/em>, the patent theatres of London, and the Paris Op\u00e9ra. She was the subject of a few portraits, two of which are of interest for the ways in which they were re-purposed after her retirement as a performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1732, after Sall\u00e9 had reached the status of principal dancer at the Paris Op\u00e9ra, her portrait was drawn by the fashionable artist Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743). The Sall\u00e9 painting was engraved and published by Nicolas de Larmessin (1684-1755), at that time the French royal family\u2019s official portraitist. Lancret places Sall\u00e9 within a \u2018genre scene\u2019 rather than producing a traditional portrait. Sall\u00e9, holding an attitude with great elegance, is in an outdoor setting that includes a temple of Diana on one side and a bevy of accompanying dancers on the other. Why the temple of Diana? According to James Hall, \u2018the stern and athletic personification of chastity, is only one aspect of a many-sided deity\u2019,1<\/sup> but it is most probably the aspect being evoked here. Lancret\u2019s subject is not a reference to any known role of Sall\u00e9\u2019s, but rather promotes her carefully cultivated personal reputation.2<\/sup> Voltaire \u2013 who supported Sall\u00e9 by writing letters of introduction for her during the early years of his own career \u2013 wrote about this portrait in his correspondence to the writer Nicolas-Claude Thieriot during April-May of 1732. Voltaire saw the portrait in Lancret’s studio,3<\/sup> and expressed a general dissatisfaction with the English verse attached to it by John Gay and Alexander Pope (‘not convenient’); nor did he approve of the French verse by Pierre-Joseph Bernard (‘not good’).4<\/sup> All the poets celebrate Sall\u00e9’s virtue, although Bernard would later go on to slander Sall\u00e9’s name in a privately-circulating verse.5<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Verses by Alexander Pope and John Gay to accompany the Lancret portrait of Sall\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
Verses by Pierre-Joseph Bernard to accompany the Lancret portrait of Sall\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The bilingual approach to the versification suggests that the dual publication of the engravings in both Paris and London was a plan from the outset. Sall\u00e9 had performed in London during the 1730-31 theatre season and would return there for the 1733-34 and 1734-35 seasons, so her promotion through this elegant portrait would have been timely. Garnier’s engraving<\/a> for the fraternal publishers Thomas Bowles II and John Bowles in London is a reverse of the original image. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the Paris (de Larmessin) and London (Garnier) engravings were re-purposed. A detail from de Larmessin (the figure of Sall\u00e9 alone) would become – with the addition of some hand colouring – “Mlle. Sall\u00e9 r\u00e8gne de Louis XV. d’apr\u00e8s Lancret 1730” or plate 58<\/a> in an obscure series going by the title “Bureau des modes et costumes historiques.”6<\/sup> Sall\u00e9’s name is still used in the title, although its function is simply to present her costume rather than celebrate her renown as an artiste<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garnier engraving also acquired colour in its afterlife as an image simply entitled ‘Dancing’. This was issued by the London-based publisher Robert Wilkinson sometime after he acquired John Bowles’s remaining stock on the latter’s death in 1779.7<\/sup> Wilkinson evidently had found a niche in publishing images of theatre interiors and exteriors – the digital collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum London<\/a> includes numerous such images as well as some of the publisher’s theatrical portraits. Wilkinson reissued images of theatre manager John Rich<\/a> (1692-1761) as Harlequin and of the actor-manager David Garrick<\/a> (1717-1779) under their own names, but appears to have decided that Sall\u00e9’s name would not prove a draw with purchasers over forty years after her final performance at Covent Garden Theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Lancret-Garnier engraving as reissued by Robert Wilkinson. Private collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Just as she was retiring from the Paris Op\u00e9ra, a portrait of Sall\u00e9 by Jean C\u00e9sar Feno\u00fcil was announced in the Mercure<\/em> of January 1740. The image promotes Sall\u00e9 as ‘La Terpsicore Fran\u00e7oise’: Terpsichore was the Greek muse of dance, and so this is a most fitting tribute to an acclaimed dancer at the end of her public career. Sall\u00e9’s biographer \u00c9mile Dacier makes a good case for the writer Titon du Tillet as a likely commissioner of this work.8<\/sup> Sall\u00e9’s persona as a most virtuous woman is indexed in three ways.Verses by Paul Desforges-Maillard conclude by celebrating her expressive capacity as well as her self control: “Love is in her eyes, Virtue in her heart.”<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Verses by Paul Desforges-Maillard on the dancer Marie Sall\u00e9. Copy: BnF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

The single turtle-dove in Sall\u00e9’s hand can evoke either chastity or love and constancy. The rose in her hair refers to an entr\u00e9e ‘Les Fleurs’ which she created for Rameau’s opera-ballet Les Indes galantes<\/em> (Paris Op\u00e9ra, 1735). Sall\u00e9 assumed the role of the Rose, queen of the flowers, who collectively endure an assault by the rude north wind Bor\u00e9e but are rescued by the gentle west wind Z\u00e9phire. Quite unusually, the action of this dance scene is supplied on the final page of the livret<\/a> for the opera. Sall\u00e9 may have wished to draw on the rose’s particular associations with the Virgin Mary — certainly the choice of flower by the painter is a reference to her role in the ‘Ballet des fleurs’ .<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"
Marie Sall\u00e9 as drawn by Jean C\u00e9sar Feno\u00fcil, engraved by Gilles-Edme Petit. Copy: BnF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The engraver Petit repurposed this portrait, announcing the new work in the Mercure<\/em> for July 1742 under the title “L’apr\u00e8s-din\u00e9 – la Dame \u00e0 la Promenade<\/a>“. Details such as a hat, necklace and bracelet have been added to the plate, while the attributions of artist and engraver have been retained but changed in format. The original engraving has: “Fenou\u00efl pinxit” and “Petit Sculpt.”; the reissue has: “M.elle Sall\u00e9 peint par Feno\u00fcil” and “Grav\u00e9 par Petit”. Before his death in 1761, an enterprising British engraver and seller John Tinney repurposed the image yet again as ‘Afternoon’ <\/a>in a series of four images depicting the times of day. (According to the British Museum, the remaining three were taken from drawings by Fran\u00e7ois Boucher.) ‘Afternoon’ is accompanied by a fresh poem that reflects its new function depicting a good wife in the afternoon of her life. Tinney retains the credit to the painter and Petit’s second title, while claiming for himself the role of engraver, ‘J. Tinney fecit.’<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Verses under the John Tinney issue of Fenou\u00efl’s drawing of Marie Sall\u00e9. Copy: British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This re-purposing of images reflected the economic realities of the eighteenth-century print trade: engraved plates represented a considerable investment in time and money, and if they could be made to serve more than one purpose, so much the better. Sall\u00e9 swiftly lost her celebrity status once she no longer performed at the Paris Op\u00e9ra, and so the image represented more to its engraver Petit in its new guise. Sall\u00e9, although respected in her day as a performer and as a creator of dancers, appears to have lived a modest lifestyle – nor did her circumspect behaviour yield incidents which would render her of sustained interest on a personal level to a broader public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1) Hall, James. ‘Diana\u2019 in Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art<\/em> second edition (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2008), pp. 105-106 (p. 105). The symbolic interpretations of turtle-dove and rose in this blog are also derived from Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) For further on Sall\u00e9’s reputation see Sarah McCleave, ‘Marie Sall\u00e9 a Wise Professional Woman of Influence’, Women\u2019s Work: Making Dance in Europe Before 1800 <\/em>(Studies in Dance History), edited by Lynn Matluck Brooks (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2007), pp. 160-182.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Voltaire to Nicolas-Claude Thieriot, 14 April 1732 (new style). Lettre 462, Voltaire’s Correspondence<\/em>, edited by Theodore Besterman (Geneva: Institute et Mus\u00e9e Voltaire, 1953), vol. 2, pp. 299-301.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Voltaire to Nicolas-Claude Thieriot, 26 May 1732 (new style). Letter 476, Voltaire’s Correspondence<\/em>, volume 2, pp. 320-321 (p. 320).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Reproduced in McCleave, ‘Marie Sall\u00e9’, p. 165. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) This is the only such plate I have discovered to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7) For Robert Wilkinson’s acquisition of Bowles’s stock, see the biographical note on the former at https:\/\/www.britishmuseum.org\/collection\/term\/BIOG51109, accessed 7 December 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8) \u00c9mile Dacier, Une danseuse de l’Op\u00e9ra sous Louis XV. : Mlle Sall\u00e9 (1707-1756) d’apr\u00e8s des documents in\u00e9dits<\/em> (Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 1909), pp. 231-32. For a chatty letter from Sall\u00e9 to du Tillet dated 27 October 1742, see Dacier pp. 243-247. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

‘Mlle Sall\u00e9’, drawn by Nicolas Lancret, engraved by Nicolas de Larmessin. (Paris: Lancret and de Larmessin, [1732-1735]). Copy: Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France\/Gallica. Public domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander Pope and John Gay, “I know her now”. Detail from ‘Mlle Sall\u00e9’, drawn by Nicolas Lancret, engraved by Nicolas de Larmessin. (London: Thos. Bowles and I. Bowles, [1730s?]). \u00a9 Victoria and Albert Museum, London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pierre-Joseph Bernard, “Maitresse de cet Art”. Detail from ‘Mlle Sall\u00e9’, drawn by Nicolas Lancret, engraved by Nicolas de Larmessin. (London: Thos. Bowles and I. Bowles, [1732-1767]). \u00a9 Victoria and Albert Museum, London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Dancing’, drawn by Nicolas Lancret. (London: Robert Wilkinson, [1779-1827]). (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Desforges-Maillard, “Les Sentimens aves les Graces”. Detail from ‘Mlle Marie Sall\u00e9 La Terpsicore Fran\u00e7oise’, drawn by Jean-C\u00e9sar Feno\u00fcil, engraved by Gilles-Edme Petit. (Paris: Petit, [1742]). Copy: Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France\/Gallica. Public domain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Mlle Marie Sall\u00e9 La Terpsicore Fran\u00e7oise’, drawn by Jean-C\u00e9sar Feno\u00fcil, engraved by Gilles-Edme Petit. (Paris: Petit, [1742]). Copy: Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France\/Gallica. Public domain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anonymous, “With glowing warmth the day descends”. Detail from ‘Afternoon’, drawn by Jean-C\u00e9sar Feno\u00fcil, engraved by John Tinney. (London: J. Tinney, [1740s-1761]). Copy: British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next post<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next post will consider the Irish dancer Lola Montez (1820-1861).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marie Sall\u00e9 (1709-1756) was an acclaimed French dancer who performed and created dances in venues as disparate as the Parisian foires, the patent theatres of London, and the Paris Op\u00e9ra. She was the subject of a few portraits, two of which are of interest for the ways in which they were re-purposed after her retirement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,1],"tags":[111,103,110,36,116,115,112,114,113,102],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dancebiography","category-uncategorised","tag-gilles-edme-petit-jean-cesar-fenouil","tag-john-bowles-1701-1779","tag-john-tinney","tag-marie-salle","tag-niclas-de-larmessin","tag-nicolas-lancret","tag-paul-desforges-maillard","tag-peirre-joseph-bernard","tag-robert-wilkinson","tag-thomas-bowles-ii-c-1695-1767"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/dancebiographies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}