L’Amour au Théâtre Italien
L’Amour au Théâtre Français
(From the Jullienne engravings from Watteau, British Museum).
There is no direct evidence that Watteau painted any stage-pictures before this period; and it would seem that his work in the country was mainly on military and naturalistic subjects. We do know that he was again in Paris at a date uncertain in 1712, and went to live with a Monsieur Crozat, by whom he was engaged to paint a series of panels of The Seasons. It is extremely likely that he would have returned to Paris refreshed by his country sojourn and with a new zest for work, and for theatre-going, which was then beginning to be particularly interesting, a crisis in the Fair Theatre troubles being over by 1710, and some new productions there as well as at the opera being well worth seeing.
As I would trace his movements, still admitting that positive evidence is required, Watteau returned to Paris early in 1711, took up his quarters for a time with Sirois the dealer, who would have the disposing of work done at Valenciennes. One of his first pictures of this period was probably “Gilles and his Family,” in the Wallace collection, which is supposed to be a portrait of Sirois dressed as a Pierrot or Gilles (the names being synonymous at the period) in a costume supplied by Watteau’s own wardrobe.
Then would come visits to the Fairs of St. Germain and St. Laurent, whence he would return reinspired with a love for the gay, reckless, satiric Italian comedy.
One has only to compare the Hertford House “Gilles” with the central figure of Pierrot in the “L’Amour au Théâtre Italien” to see that one is an earlier work and is the figure of a man somewhat self-conscious and not quite used to the clothes he is wearing; the other a maturer work, representing a vivid impression of a born comedian, momentarily master of the scene. Doubtless at this time, too, would be done some, but only some, of the remaining works dealing with the Italian stage types, such as “Les Jaloux,” “Arlequin Jaloux,” “Comédiens Italiens,” and “Pierrot Content.” A little after, I think, would come such works as “Arlequin et Colombine,” (in the Wallace collection), “Mezzetin,” and the maturer “Gilles,” in the Louvre.
In 1712 there were at the Theatres of the Fair in Paris two famous players of Gilles or Pierrot, namely, Hamoche, who made his début in that year with the St. Edmé troupe; and Belloni, who was also a lemonade-seller, quite a popular character, notable, as one chronicle tells us, “for the grand simplicity of his acting and for his naïve and truthful speech.”
The most famous of the players of Arlequin was Pierre-François (otherwise Domenique) Biancolelli, who was also of the St. Edmé troupe, somewhere between 1710-1712.