Costume of Endymion from the Ballet "Triumph of Love" (Habit d'Andimion du balet du 'Triomphe de l'amour)

Etching and engraving with a design for a costume for Endymion, part of the collection of costume designs for the ballet 'Triomphe de l'Amour' (Triumph of Love), created by Juan Dolivar and printed by Jacques LePautre after a design by Jean I Berain. Entrusted with drawings for costumes, stage sets, and royal ceremonies at the 'Academie Royale de la Musique' since 1680, Berain's ingenious creations took acanthus and laurel leaves, palmettes and grotesques, mixing them with dancers, acrobats, monkeys and satyrs, to create his own, imaginative, theatrical world. His designs were multiplied and disseminated by means of engravings, his design motifs and manner objects becoming highly influential in the closing years of the seventeenth century. Like this print, many of his designs were for costumes intended for the performances of the Royal Academy of Music.

The costume for Endymion in this print consists of a justaucorps over a long waistcoat, both decorated with arabesques and bordered by a ruffled fabric. The justaucorps has five embellished fastenings, a belt, and a band, all with precious stones, and long muslin sleeves, which split at the elbows to reveal a second pair of sleeves, bordered with thin muslin ruffles around the wrist. A muslin cravat is tied around the neck to form a large bow on the chest, and a headband with a bundle of ostrich feathers adorns the head, with long, curly hair falling behind the neck and over the shoulders. A jeweled spade, carried on the left hand, and low-heeled, pointed boots, also decorated with arabesques, complete the costume. On the background, a garden with a fountain and a group of women in costumes can be devised.