Portret van mademoiselle Eléonore als Floretta in het melodrama Le Belvédère 1823

Alexandre-Marie Colin made this print of Mademoiselle Eléonore as Floretta in the melodrama 'Le Belvédère', which was performed at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique in Paris. But what can we learn from this portrait about the culture of its time? The image presents us with the celebrity culture of early 19th-century Paris. Melodramas, like today’s soap operas, were popular entertainment for a wide public and made stars of their leading actors. Here, the actress appears in costume. She’s been captured in the role that made her famous. We can use resources, such as theatre reviews, playbills, and other visual depictions of actors and stage sets to reconstruct a richer picture of popular culture in post-revolutionary France. Exploring the social and institutional context of art like this allows us to better understand its place in society.