Design for a Stage Set 1830 - 1890

Curator: Eugène Cicéri's "Design for a Stage Set" from the mid-19th century offers us a peek into the world of theatrical design during the Romantic era. Editor: My initial feeling is melancholic, like looking at a faded dream. It's a fragmented scene, a delicate wash of color, the paper itself feels fragile. Curator: The landscape, rendered in watercolor, pencil, and perhaps coloured pencil, gestures toward a type of idealized nature often seen in Romantic paintings. Given Cicéri’s work in the Parisian theaters, we can consider the context of spectacle and entertainment. Were such designs accessible? For whom? Editor: I see what you mean! It is an illusion, or a model of one. A painted backdrop. It lacks dimension where there should be space. I feel a disconnect—like these are memories placed outside time. Curator: Exactly, consider then the politics of Romanticism in revolutionary France! Nature became a source of national pride, but the theater always played a pivotal role in constructing public perception. Cicéri catered to specific class interests and aesthetics. What do the ruins imply, and what does this "naturalness" obscure? Editor: That is something else—the ruins seem so unnatural! There's something stiff about them, as if even the "ancient" aspects were fabricated for the set. It reminds me that everything, every part of the story is meant for effect. Still I find it touching. A little sad, maybe. Curator: And perhaps a commentary, too? This landscape is curated. Consider the power dynamics. The designers controlled the audience experience in profound ways—the visual landscape shaping social and political imaginations. Editor: So true! A thought just occurred to me. These theatrical designers really foreshadowed virtual reality. They invented immersive landscapes. Curator: Indeed! And examining these designs today invites critical awareness of the ways constructed realities continue to shape us all. Editor: I'm glad for that perspective, it makes me think of how much these scenes influenced us then and now. I will never look at theatre the same way again.