Description

Sarah Bernhardt often presented plays in which the main role was a male character (e.g. “Hamlet”, “L’Aiglon”), and Lorenzaccio was one of them: in this play by Alfred de Musset, first shown in 1863, the hero is a prince of the city-state of Florence, a member of the Medici family.

With the city under siege by Alexander, Lorenzaccio shows the prince, as played by Sarah Bernhardt, contemplating how to kill Alexander in order to save the town and his own honor. The dragon above represents the evil forces that are about to devour the city of Florence-its emblem appears by the dragon’s mouth. The ornate, jeweled sword in the bottom panel above the name of the theater represents the possible solution.

The poster was prepared for a new production of the old play, adapted from the original by Armand d’Artois, and presented on December 3, 1896 at the Theatre de la Renaissance.