Modern grace...the ballet of Alonzo e Cara

Rowlandson, Thomas (1756 or 1757-1827)

Item type:

drawing

Date of creation:

1796

Height:

17.5 cm  (6 7/8 in.)

Width:

23.2 cm  (9 1/8 in.)

mount: 25.1 x 28.9 cm (9 7/8 x 11 3/8 inches)

Technique / Medium:

watercolor with pen and brown ink on medium, smooth, cream wove paper

Description

Dancers (one male, four female) in performance in an operatic scene. Attached to the mat is a hand-written note from art collector and previous owner L.G. Duke (see notes below), documenting its relationship to a print by Gillray, and the significance of the costume styles.

Iconclass

48C862
opera
48C842
ballet group; dancers on the stage
48C8421
male dancer
48C853
stage costume
48C8422
female dancer
48CC844
ballet dress - CC - female
32A5
caricatures (human types)

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Egerton, Judy. "L G Duke", Old Watercolour Society's Club 49 (1974) 11-30.

Notes

Inscribed in pen in brown ink, lower center: "Modern Grace - or the Operatical Finale of the Ballet of Alonzo e cara -" ; in graphite, on mount, lower right: "19x12 1/2 mount open with gold strip ["blue" crossed out] grey over mount" Inscribed by hand by L.G. Duke, in black-gray ink, on beige, medium, smooth paper that has been mounted on the matted frame of object, center: "On the fifteen of May following [ie. 1796] Gillray caricatured this new style of Dancing [ie. the small | [enormity?] of apparel which was allowed to the [Dansseurs?], and the freedom with which they exposed their forms | to public view"] in a caricature entitled 'Modern Grace; or the operatical finale to the ballet of 'Alanzo | e Caro.' Thomas Wright, 'Caricature History of the Georges' (1867), p555. | The ballet was 'Alonzo e Cora', and Gilray substitutes 'Caro' [flesh] for Cora. Rowlandson | follows the Gillray print closely, but writes 'Cara' for 'Caro' | An advt. in the Morning Chronicle of April 2, 1796, a [end of Yale note]

RIdIM record id

6327