Design for the Divertissement from "La Pastorale" (First Entrée of the opera-ballet "Les Muses" by Danchet and Campra")

About the Artwork

This drawing represents the elaborate stage set for the opera-ballet Les Muses that premiered in 1703 at the Opéra, the most prestigious public theater in Paris. In a city that thrived on spectacle, the opera-ballet was one of the most fashionable forms of entertainment in the 18th century. Berain’s drawing relates to the third scene in the first of four acts, "La Pastorale," in which shepherds and shepherdesses pay homage to deities in a wooded grove. The celebration, accompanied by flutes and a musette (small bagpipe) comprised a lighthearted musical interlude or divertissement, an indispensable component of the opera-ballet.

Inscriptions

lower left, in graphite?: No 23; verso, upper left, in graphite: W; center, in graphite: 1230 [sideways]; lower right, in graphite: Probably Jean Le Pautre / scene [illegible]ment for Louis XIV c. 1670 / The V + A might be able to track it down exactly; lower right, in graphite: clean? / surface / clean? / c / [4 w?] / pretty; lower right, in graphite: xb [crossed out]; x336188.

Exhibition history

French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002). Watteau, Music and Theatre. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 21-November 29, 2009). Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015).

Quick Overview

Artist: Jean I Bérain (French, 1640–1711)
Date: 1703
Medium: pen and black ink and brush and gray wash with red, blue, and yellow wash, with graphite
Dimensions: Sheet: 35.1 x 46.3 cm (13 13/16 x 18 1/4 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Accession no.: 2008.379

Provenance

Unidentified collector's mark, verso, lower left, in black ink [si?]. [Christie's, London (19 March 1975), no. 65, pl. 8]; [Yvonne Ffrench (according to final price list issued by Christie's)]; [Shepherd Gallery, New York]; purchased in 1975.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.