Mlle. Favart

In the early 1850s, commercial photographer Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (1795–1866) made a series of portraits featuring members of the Comédie-Française theater company. Vallou de Villeneuve believed there would be a market to sell these portraits to the public and to the performers who might use them for publicity. Photographed in their signature characters’ costumes and poses, the actors use their bodies to communicate movement through the static image, allowing the photograph to serve as a constrained extension of the theatrical stage. Founded in 1680 and still operating today, the Comédie-Française enjoys financial support from the French government, with upper-class Parisians as the theater’s core audience.