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At the Renaissance: Sarah Bernhardt in Phèdre

A work made of lithograph on grayish-cream wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of lithograph on grayish-cream wove paper.

Date:

1893

Artist:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French, 1864-1901

About this artwork

Known as “the Divine Sarah,” Sarah Bernhardt was probably the most famous actress in the world in the late 19th century. Her stage and film acting career spanned six decades and multiple continents. She also produced and directed plays, and from 1893 to 1899 she helmed the Paris Renaissance Theater, where she starred in a production of Jean Racine’s Phèdre, as pictured here. Her personal life was hardly less dramatic. One of her trademarks was sleeping (and reportedly, receiving suitors) in a satin-lined, rosewood coffin. She cannily had herself photographed in this contraption more than once, claiming it helped prepare her for her tragic roles.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Title

At the Renaissance: Sarah Bernhardt in Phèdre

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1893

Medium

Lithograph on grayish-cream wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 34.6 × 23.5 cm (13 5/8 × 9 5/16 in.); Sheet: 38.2 × 28.3 cm (15 1/16 × 11 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Carl O. Schniewind

Reference Number

1944.459

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/50993/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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