imperial-russia:Mihaly Zichy: Le Bal NoirThe celebrated Black Ball was held at the Winter Palace in
imperial-russia:Mihaly Zichy: Le Bal NoirThe celebrated Black Ball was held at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg on the 26th of January, 1889. The ball took its curious name on account of the death of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, who had died in mysterious circumstances with his teenage mistress at the Mayerling hunting lodge in Austria a few days earlier. In fact it later emerged that the couple had made a suicide pact and their tragic love story has since been immortalized in many films and plays, principally the two 1936 and 1968 movies both entitled Mayerling.According to protocol, the ball should have been cancelled. However, the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna insisted that the event would still take place, three days beforehand informing the guests that there would now be a black dress-code. It is possible that, by doing so she sought to repay the Austrian royal family for not having mourned the death of a Russian Royal family member a few years earlier. Whatever her motive, as the work here shows, the guests successfully prepared anew their ball costumes and the ball went ahead as planned.The artist has inscribed Prince Rudolph’s name inside two decorative ribbons at the top of the painting. The painting is divided into three sections representing different episodes of the ball. The top section shows the Russian Emperor Alexander III standing third from the right. The bottom left illustration probably depicts an amusement which is inscribed in French as “it is just a hard time to go through.” Similarly, the bottom right image portrays the royal orchestra with a conductor and a dancing crowd. It is inscribed as “he is just a uniform”. Both inscriptions might be a cutting reference to the deceased Prince. (x) -- source link