Private fans collection of Evgeniya Doremidova
Saint-Petersburg

Fan “Theatre of Moliere”

The fan was produced in France to mark the 200th anniversary of Molier`s opening of the Theatre Illustre in Paris in 1643. On the front of the sheet, in the central medallion is a portrait of the young Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin 1622-1673) surrounded by nine muses. On the right is the Muse of Hystory, Clio, writing the playwrighs name in the Scroll of History, the Muses of Poetry, Calliope and Erato, standing embraced and looking at the autor. The Muse of Astronomy, Urania with a globe in her hand, looks at the sky, as if pondering which of the stars to name in Moliers honour. To the left of the portrait are: Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, with a tragic mask in her hand, as is known, the playwrights tragedies were not warmly welcomed by the public. The most important Muse for Moliere is Thalia – the Muse of Comedy, she stands turning to the comediographer, holding a comic mask in her hand and smiling at her favourite. Behind are Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance, and Euterpe, the Muse of Lyrical Music. Polyhimnia, the Muse of mime and hymns, sits composing a hymn in honour of Moliere. Also, on the front side are four scenes form famous comedies: “The School for Husbands”, “Tartuffe”, “The Miser” and “The Misanthrope”. The reverse side is completely covered with images and ornaments. In the central medallion is a scene from Greek mythology: after a successful “Calydonian hunt”, Meleager presents the head of boar to Atalanta. At the bottom of medallion is the signature: A.Gard, possibly the engraver`s name. The medallions to the right and left of the central medallion depict figures with attributes of science and art. In the outermost medallions are vases with flowers. The whole field is abundantly covered with ornaments.