Entry by Catherine Reith: Le Papillon

The artifact I have chosen for my Catalog entry is this ballerina figure. This figure is called “Le Papillon”. Created by Jean Agust Barre. Le papillon translates to The Butterfly in French. This Figurine was supposed to be of a Ballerina named Emma Livry in 1861. As you can see in the image above Livry is wearing butterfly wings in a ballerina costume hence the name of the figure she is in a ballet position and She is considered one of the Last romantic Dancers of ballet. I believe that Barre depicted her in this manner to portray her elegance and beauty. If you look at her feet you can tell that she is barefoot and in what seems to be a flower field or small garden. This is a very important detail because during the romanticism era people were more interested with nature and this is clearly shown in this figurine especially since they are depicting the ballerina as a butterfly. This relates to our class because we learned about French Neoclassical Theater and Romantic theater was a reaction to this form of theater because neoclassicism was more valued in order and balance while romanticism was more imaginative. This figure gives the example of the great opposites of Romanticism and Neoclassicism.

Author: Catherine Reith