Tweede bedrijf, derde scène van Robert le Diable 1873 - 1874

Curator: This fascinating image is entitled "Tweede bedrijf, derde scène van Robert le Diable," placing us squarely in the realm of theatrical production from around 1873-1874, courtesy of Charles Dauvois. Quite the mouthful, isn't it? Editor: Woah, dramatic! I feel like I’m peering through a vintage opera glass. There’s a staged intensity, everyone frozen mid-gesture. Kinda gives me the shivers. Curator: Absolutely. Dauvois captures not just the scene, but also the cultural moment when opera, especially something as sensationally titled as "Robert the Devil", was a major social event. The image itself likely served a dual purpose, a memento of the performance, but also something like a collectible for enthusiasts. Editor: Devil opera...sounds right up my alley. Though, the figures almost look posed—stiff and formal against the painted backdrop. Were audiences buying these prints? Like a seventeenth-century version of a playbill photo? Curator: Precisely! And while photography had advanced quite significantly, this carefully staged composition echoes painting, specifically romantic history painting in many ways. It lends a certain gravity to the popular entertainment. The illusion is everything, even in its recorded form. Editor: I see it now. It’s not trying to be raw documentary; it wants to be...art. And a souvenir, maybe, of a night at the opera where you experienced a certain frisson seeing good triumph, or be threatened by pure evil… Curator: Exactly, a perfect capture of bourgeois aspiration and a desire to connect with high culture, or at least its simulacrum. The artist provides a key historical record as to both, while reinterpreting what "high art" should be in an industrialized modern age. Editor: It’s interesting that by “performing history” it invites the viewer to reconsider this production in terms of stage design, dress design, and the relationship between theatrical spectacle and the culture that spawned it. Thank you for highlighting its intricacies. Curator: The pleasure was all mine, I hope this audio guide opens other cultural relics from ages gone to new critical insights in an ever-evolving world!