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Degas Backstage: The Work Behind the Ballet
Edgar Degas transformed ballet depictions by moving past the stage performance into rehearsal halls and dressing rooms. Through rigorous sketching and close observation, he recorded the relentless training and social dynamics behind the Paris Opéra. Shift to the Practice Room Edgar Degas was born in Paris to an affluent family and initially studied law before committing to art. He trained under Louis Lamothe, a former pupil of Ingres, and spent time copying masterworks in the Louvre alongside travels to Rome, Naples, and Florence. During the late 1860s, after producing early historical paintings and portraits, Degas shifted his focus to contemporary urban subjects, including racecourses, women at work, and the theatre. After serving in the artillery during the Franco-Prussian War and making a trip to New Orleans in 1872, Degas returned to Paris and helped organize the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. From the early 1870s onward, his interest turned decisively toward the ballet. Rather than limiting himself to public performances, he sought entry into the rehearsal halls and practice rooms where dancers took their daily lessons. Small early compositions like The Rehearsal Room (c. 1871) and The Dance Lesson (1872) record these working spaces with careful precision. In the Paris painting, ballet master Louis Mérante stands holding a staff while guiding a student, surrounded by dancers in rehearsal dress. Arched mirrors positioned along the walls reflect opposite sides of the room, suggesting a broader environment of disciplined repetition. Practicality, Observation, and Craft Capturing the mechanical effort of ballet demanded extensive observation and scores of preparatory sketches. In Le Foyer de la danse à l'Opéra de la rue Le Peletier (1872), Degas arranged a balanced group of figures across the canvas, assigning each dancer an individual movement or pause. He chose to document physical fatigue, stretching, and routine instruction rather than polished theatrical elegance. Degas drew upon varied artistic precedents to structure his rehearsal scenes. While his precise draftsmanship and small scale recalled the eighteenth-century genre scenes of Watteau and Pater, his framing reflected a keen interest in photography and Japanese prints. He used unexpected cropped angles, off-centre compositions, and natural light entering from hidden side windows to convey an unposed quality. Unlike many Impressionist colleagues who favoured small, variegated strokes outdoors, Degas maintained structured contours and applied bold, slashing brushwork inside the studio. He experimented with photography to capture sudden shifts in posture, treating the canvas like a frozen snapshot. This careful preparation allowed him to render complex physical movement while preserving an air of absolute spontaneity. Degas dance class. Public domain; source: Wikimedia Commons. The Viewpoint of the Opera Insider Degas gained behind-the-scenes access to the Paris Opéra through personal connections with figures like the composer Désiré Dihau and the librettist Ludovic Halévy. In compositions such as Dancers Backstage (c. 1875) and The Curtain (c. 1880), the viewer experiences the scene from the perspective of an insider standing in the wings or beside stage flats. In The Curtain, pastel applied over a monotype base depicts dancers in rose stockings alongside performers dressed en travesti in yellow-orange pants. Positioned among them are the rigid, black-clad legs of male subscribers, known as abonnés. Members of exclusive groups like the Jockey Club held significant influence at the Opéra, possessing private admission rights to the green room and acting as financial patrons. Degas examined these social encounters directly in Dancer in Her Dressing Room (c. 1880). The artwork shows a young performer preparing for the stage while an older duenna, often the dancer's mother, adjusts the waist of her tutu. Deep in the shadows at the edge of the room sits a male protector, illustrating the patron system that operated behind the public spectacle. Visual Contrast and Distance Throughout his ballet series, Degas built strong visual contrasts between dark geometric forms and brightly coloured performers. In Musicians of the Orchestra (1872), the dark heads of the foreground musicians loom large against the illuminated pink and white tutus on stage. A similar device appears in Ballet Dancer (c. 1878), where the dark silhouette of a double bass cuts across the light fabric of a performer's dress. In works like Café-Concert (c. 1878) and Dancers at the Old Opera House (c. 1877), Degas positioned the viewer within orchestra pits or stage boxes. In Dancers at the Old Opera House, the dancers recede into the space with overlapping tutus and tangled legs, seen directly from an executive box. The dark shadow of the box foregrounds the bright stage, emphasizing physical distance. While contemporary writers often expressed patronizing attitudes toward ballet dancers, Degas maintained an objective distance. He avoided sentimental treatment, choosing instead to record both the ambition of the dancers and the vanity of the abonnés with cool detachment. In his monotypes and pastels, he frequently caricatured both parties, accentuating clumsy gestures and social pretensions with equal neutrality. Late Works and Technical Shift By the mid-1880s, when Degas reached the age of fifty, his failing eyesight led to a shift in his artistic media. He relied less on oil painting and dedicated more time to pastels, monotypes, and wax sculpture. These materials allowed him to work directly with tactile forms and broad, expressive strokes of colour. His late depictions of dancers grew increasingly abstract and focused on primary forms. In Dancers on the Stage (c. 1885), figures are cropped radically by the frame, with a forearm extending into the lower corner to imply a viewer standing just inside the wings. The specific social context of the abonné faded, replaced by an intense concentration on body contours, light, and surface texture. Rather than viewing the dance as narrative theatre, the older Degas treated the human body as a vehicle for studying posture and physical effort. Dancers resting on stage, such as those in Ballet Dancers (c. 1878), provided structural shapes that he reconfigured across dozens of late pastels. His backstage series ultimately documented the physical labor of dance through rigorous drawing and technical experimentation.
Osiris: Death, Kingship and Rebirth
Geb appointed Osiris to rule humanity, and Osiris ruled Egypt with Isis during a golden age. Seth killed him, Isis and Nephthys gathered his remains, and Anubis made him the first mummy before the gods made him king and judge of the dead. Osiris Becomes King of Egypt Geb appointed his eldest son, Osiris, to rule humanity. Thoth became his viceroy and lit the sky at night while Ra passed through the underworld. In most tellings, Osiris was born wearing a crown, and the sun god chose him to succeed Geb. Osiris and his sister Isis had fallen in love in the womb. They became consorts and ruled Egypt together. Isis served as his queen and chief protector. Their reign became a golden age, but it did not last long. Seth grew jealous of his brother’s power and decided to murder him. In one telling, Seth took the form of a bull, a hippopotamus, or a crocodile, attacked Osiris, and threw him into the Nile, where he drowned. In another, Seth struck Osiris down and trampled him. Some later tellings said that Seth tore the body apart. Isis and her sister Nephthys searched for Osiris and gathered his remains. Isis used her magic to reverse the effects of decay. Anubis, the god of embalming, made Osiris into the first mummy. Osiris died and became the Inert One. The gods later decreed that he should be resurrected as king and judge of the dead. His rule continued in the realm of the dead, while Horus, his posthumous son, became king of the living. Osiris then ruled the underworld. Horus ruled the living, and Seth remained opposed to Osiris’s family. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Magic in Ancient Egypt *ISBN 0292765592*; Handbook of Egyptian Mythology. The Birth of Osiris Nut gave birth to Osiris at Thebes on the first of five intercalary days before the Egyptian New Year. Thoth had created the five days for Nut because he loved her. They allowed her to give birth after she had been forbidden to do so during any month or year. A voice sounded in the temple when Osiris entered the world. It announced that the great and good king had been born, or that the lord of all had come into the light. Ra acknowledged Osiris as his heir. Nut then gave birth to the other children on the remaining days. In one telling, she bore Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys after Osiris. In another, she bore Isis, Seth, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder. The five days were therefore linked with the births of Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Some tellings included Horus the Elder among Nut's children. Nut was the daughter of Shu and Tefnut. She was the consort of Geb, the earth god, and became the mother of several important deities. Nut and Geb had embraced so closely that nothing could exist between them, and Nut could not give birth to the children she had conceived. Shu separated them and held Nut above Geb. Her body became the sky, while Geb remained below her. Nut could then give birth to her children. The parentage of the children also differed. In some tellings, Ra fathered Osiris and Horus, Thoth fathered Isis, and Geb fathered only Seth and Nephthys. In the telling of Osiris's birth, Ra still recognised Osiris as his heir. Nut gave birth to the children across the five extra days, before the new year began. The Birth of Osiris. Original MythSource illustration created for this story; not a historical artwork. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Egyptian Mythology. Osiris's Fertility Rebirth Seth struck down Osiris, and Osiris died. His death became linked with the dwindling of the Nile and the decline of vegetation. His body was enclosed in a tamarisk tree, which grew to an enormous size and showed his power to bring fertility. Osiris was also linked with Nedit, which was said to be where he was killed or where Isis found his body. Horus restored Osiris by presenting the power of his Eye to him. This act raised Osiris into renewed divine life. Osiris then became the god of the fertile lands of the Nile valley, floods, and vegetation. His death was identified with the yearly decline of the Nile, and his resurrection with the return of its flood. The floodwaters brought life to parched land. When the waters receded, wheat and barley grew in the fields. Osiris's body was identified with barley, while Seth was compared with the donkeys that trampled the grain during threshing. Osiris's death and renewal were therefore linked with reaping and sowing. He was also regarded as the source and substance of corn, vines, and trees. He taught people to farm, to grind wheat and barley into flour, and to make bread. During festivals of Osiris, people made mummies of corn by filling a mummy-shaped linen case with seed, watering it, and allowing seedlings to grow through the linen. These Corn Osirises represented the new life of the dead, as seed corn grew into new plants. People also made similar figures with an erect form. Osiris was shown regenerating inside a tree. His death and renewed life were identified with the annual return of fertility to Egypt. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Egyptian Mythology.
Berthe Morisot's The Cradle: Looking and Being Watched
In 1872, Berthe Morisot painted The Cradle, capturing an intimate moment of looking and being watched. Her sister Edma gazes devotedly at her sleeping infant daughter, Blanche. Morisot records this silent observation from her own position as artist, creating a quiet chain of sight within a Parisian domestic interior. Observation and Intimacy in The Cradle Berthe Morisot painted The Cradle in 1872 using oil paint on canvas. The work measures 56 centimetres high by 46 centimetres wide and hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It presents an intimate domestic scene where a young mother watches over her sleeping baby. The mother is Morisot's sister Edma, who sits bent over the crib where her second daughter, Blanche, rests quietly. Within the room, visual attention moves directly between the figures. Edma looks at the sleeping infant, while Morisot observes her sister from across the canvas. This structure creates a layered study of looking, where the act of watching forms the primary subject of the artwork. Morisot conveys the quiet affection of the scene through direct positioning and delicate handling of paint. The mother rests her head near her hand as she guards the sleeping child, establishing a sense of calm protection. The artist applied paint freely with a sure touch, using light brushstrokes to construct the domestic setting. Diagonal lines structure the composition, guiding the eye across the figures without disrupting the tranquil atmosphere. Edma's dark hair and dark dress anchor the left side of the canvas, forming a visual balance against the softer tones of the baby's bedding. Nuances of Light and Colour In The Cradle, Morisot analyses the nuances of white in a manner characteristic of the Impressionist movement. She frames Edma's dark hair and dress against a white curtain in the window behind her. To prevent the background fabric from overpowering the composition, Morisot mutes its whiteness with soft blue and pale orange tones. These cool and warm shades push the window drape into the background of the painting. In contrast, the white fabric draped over the cradle appears brighter and closer to the front of the picture plane. The artist used pink and golden tones to convey light shimmering across the delicate material covering the crib. She handled textures with precision, rendering the transparency of the diaphanous veil over the baby and the satin curtain behind her sister. Soft light moves smoothly across the canvas without jarring colour contrasts, preserving the quiet tone of the bedroom. The subtle colour harmonies and delicate brushwork capture the textures of the fabrics while maintaining an even light across the entire scene. Berthe Morisot 008. Public domain; source: Wikimedia Commons. Family Subjects and Parisian Life Morisot selected her subjects primarily from her immediate domestic world in Paris. Every moment in her family life provided material for her paintings, including her sister, her daughter, her nephews, and her husband. Without her relatives, her artistic output would have lacked its primary subject matter. Her sister Edma was her best friend and served as her most frequent model. Before painting The Cradle, Morisot had depicted Edma in works such as The Artist's Sister at a Window in 1869, showing her holding a fan near a window overlooking the city. This focus on domestic subjects reflected the practical conditions of Morisot's life. Society imposed strict limitations on women during the nineteenth century, restricting the places they could visit without an escort. Consequently, scenes involving family members inside private homes were among the few subjects Morisot could freely explore. She focused her artistic attention on quiet interiors and private domestic routines. Even when painting outdoors, as in her Normandy pictures near Fécamp or her work View of Paris from the Trocadéro, her palette remained light and focused on direct observation. Artistic Training and Influence Berthe Morisot was born in Bourges in 1841 into a wealthy family and was the great-granddaughter of the eighteenth-century painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard. She and her sister trained as painters together in Paris. In 1868, Morisot met Édouard Manet and often modelled for his paintings. Manet offered instruction and advice to Morisot, and the directness and even light of The Cradle show his artistic influence. Later in her career, Morisot was also influenced by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, though her painting retained its delicate approach to domestic themes. Manet's professional interaction with Morisot extended to her Salon submissions. Before Morisot submitted a canvas depicting Edma and their mother to the Salon of 1870, she asked Manet for advice. Manet repainted the figure of the mother himself, leaving abbreviated brushmarks that contrast with Morisot's own technique elsewhere on the work. Despite such interventions, Morisot developed an independent method characterised by light, feathery strokes. In 1874, she deepened her family connection to the Manet circle by marrying Édouard's brother, Eugène Manet. Impressionist Exhibitions and Reception Morisot showed The Cradle publicly at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, held at Nadar's studio in Paris. She exhibited the painting alongside Hide and Seek, which depicted Edma in an outdoor setting with a green parasol. Over the course of her career, Morisot participated in seven of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. She and her husband Eugène possessed sufficient financial resources to help fund the eighth exhibition in 1886, where she displayed works including In the Dining Room. The reception of the Impressionist group was often hostile among contemporary critics. In 1876, a critic described Morisot and her fellow artists as five or six lunatics deranged by ambition, noting that one member of the group was a woman. Despite such criticism, Morisot maintained her active role in the group. Her paintings consistently explored everyday domestic life, using free paint application and subtle colour relationships to depict family members in private interiors.