Tableau vivant

As tableau vivant (French " living picture " ) refers to a presentation of works of painting and sculpture by living people. This fashion came towards the end of the 18th century.

Definition

As the inventor calls Meyers Lexicon Madame de Genlis, the governess of the children of the Duke of Orleans. You should have arranged such representations for instruction and entertainment of their pupils and thereby uses the help of the painter Jacques -Louis David and Jean -Baptiste Isabey. Acquaintance were the public imitations of ancient statues by Lady Hamilton, who has often stood for paintings model and the Art of Still holding also brought to the stage. With similar representations, the actress Henriette Hendel - Schütz was known.

Living Pictures in the narrower sense, however, are no solo performances ( attitudes ), but group pictures. Since the 18th century, the performances of the Oberammergau Passion Play in unbroken tradition contain many living pictures from the Old Testament. Living pictures were in the 19th century to a central scenic design elements, on the stage as well as in courtly or civic festivals. They were an integral part of military parades, stage and ballroom dance. Suitable lighting and musical accompaniment had some importance for their effect. Jean Sibelius composed his tone poem about Finlandia (1900) for a sequence of live images.

Especially living pictures were used to show a clear conclusion moving actions. Frequently encountered was the 19th- century theater a stationary group of actors, as the curtain fell. For this is in the text book, the instruction "group". To date, dance teachers for a dance or artists to applause after a successful trick a group ( the so-called compliment ).

Image templates

In "Group books " were recommended for every opportunity to imitate living pictures, sometimes with ribbons and similar props. The early exercises consisted in part of living out of the rehearsal photos, as with patriotic subjects. In some sports have been preserved remains of tradition.

The posturing as the national anthem or for a photo comes from the tradition of tableaux vivants ago. In photography, the term " living pictures " is sometimes used for a set acting, particularly symbolic composition, reminiscent of history painting and genre painting.

Revue

At the beginning of the 20th century were living pictures a sensational value by being presented by nude actors, such as Olga Desmond. In the revue Naked were tolerated as long as they did not move, such as the Windmill Theatre in London.

Today's distribution

Up to the present time living in the Art form the Living Mannequins (also known as Living Statues ) remained popular, which often occur as a street performer or as a walking acts at festivals, fairs or similar events. The attraction here is the unusually long persistence in a motionless pose, which occasionally may be interrupted by a surprising, mostly emphasizes economical interaction with the audience ( for example, a twinkle in his eye ). However, ensemble performances of several individuals are the exception in this area.