Costume of an Indian from the Ballet "Triumph of Love" (Habit d'Indiens du balet du Triomphe de l'Amour)

Etching and engraving with a design for a costume for an Indian man, part of the collection of costume designs for the ballet 'Triomphe de l'Amour' (Triumph of Love), created 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 plate consists of a ballet dancer in costume, wearing a justaucorps heavily decorated with lozenges, rosettes, and embroidered arabesques, with ornamental clips made up of small gemstones inside scrolling frames. Long, baggy sleeves hang from his arms, with undulating tassels hanging at the level of the elbows. A cross-belt covers the chest, forming ruffled rosettes above the elbows, and hanging behind the back, also decorated with undulating tassels on the edges. The head is covered by a turban embellished with gemstones and a rich bundle of large scrolling feathers. The shoes are high heeled, square-toed, and embellished with gemstones. He seems to be in motion, almost like dancing, and holds castanets in both hands. Behind him is a park with two obelisques supported by pedestals with the form of rhinoceros, positioned to the right and left sides of the dancer. Beyond the park, a tropical landscape with palm trees and a setting sun can be devised.