What is the scientific value reflected in the picture chocolate. The secret of the famous "Chocolate Girl" Lyotard: the story of Cinderella or the predatory huntress for the princely title

Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate girl. Pastel, parchment. 82.5x52.5 cm. 1743-1745 Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden

It is not known for certain who posed for Lyotard. There are many legends about this. The most popular one says that we have before us the daughter of a ruined nobleman.

The prince who came to the cafe liked her so much that he decided to marry the girl. And before the wedding, he ordered her portrait in the outfit in which he fell in love. That is, in the outfit of a chocolate girl.

Rather, it's just beautiful legend. Which played a significant role in the fact that the picture has become one of the most recognizable in the world. She is almost the main calling card Dresden Gallery (along with).

But I'm not surprised why such a legend was born in principle. Her very picturesque characteristics suggest thoughts about the nobility of the heroine.

See how the chocolate girl bright skin with a soft blush. damsel simple origin could hardly afford it. After all, she needed to spend a lot of time outdoors.

In addition to working in a cafe, you also have to do housework: carry water from a well, go to the market or even mess around in the garden. And in this case, her skin would certainly be darker.

Her hands are also very sleek. Lyotard wrote them out with particular tenderness. A working girl couldn't afford that either. Sewing, washing dishes and other household chores would certainly leave their mark.

Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate (fragment). 1745-1747 Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden

Gives the girl and stately posture. To have such a back, it was necessary to follow it with early childhood. And this was possible only within the framework of a noble family.

In addition, Lyotard picked up incredible colors. Golden-ocher color of the corset. Grey-blue skirt. Pale pink cap with a blue ribbon. Snow-white color of the apron and scarf. All colors are light, emphasizing the feeling of freshness and well-groomed.

If the artist had chosen other colors, then the impression of the picture would have been definitely different.

Also note how carefully Lyotard wrote out a glass and a porcelain cup on the girl's tray. You could say they are also high society».

Most likely, it was because of all these “noble” details that the legend of the lady was born. blue blood who came into service due to financial problems families.

But something tells me that it's all about the artist Lyotard himself. He obviously had a delicate taste and knew how to create nobility where there was not so much of it. And willingly flattered his models.

Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Portrait of Marie Joseph of Saxony, Dauphine of France. 1751 Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

This was the Rococo era. Art was supposed to be light and bring beauty to people. Lyotard himself said that painting is just a mirror that reflects the most beautiful of the real world.

Swiss artist J.-E. Lyotard was called "the painter of kings and beautiful women". Everything in his life was made up of happy accidents and circumstances that talented artist, gifted to the same practical mind, skillfully took advantage.

J.-E. Lyotard. Self-portrait in Turkish costume. Pastel.

At one time, the family of J.-E. Lyotara was forced to emigrate from France to Geneva. Future artist at one time he studied in Paris with the engraver and miniaturist Masse. Then in the life of J.-E. Liotard began years of wandering, during which he visited many cities and countries. He traveled as a companion of noble people, as many artists of the 18th century often had to do.

Travel gave J.-E. Lyotard is a diverse material for observations and has accustomed him to almost documentary accuracy of sketches. For portraits J.-E. Lyotard is characterized by exceptional accuracy in the reproduction of the model, and this is precisely what the artist gained European fame for himself and acquired high patrons. He met with a warm welcome from the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna, and from the Pope in Rome, and from Turkish Sultan in Constantinople. Everyone liked the portraits of J.-E. Lyotard is the similarity of faces, the completeness in the image of the materials of clothing and jewelry, and the colorfulness of his canvases.

The portrait of the beautiful Anna Baldauf (Anna Baltauf), world-famous under the name "Chocolate Girl" (French "La belle chocoladiere") and countless times copied and engraved (located in the Dresden Gallery) was written in Vienna.
Most likely, Anna was a servant at the court of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, where the painter noticed the girl. Anna, the daughter of an impoverished knight, served as a maid at court.
They say that it was there that the young Prince Dietrichstein noticed her beauty.
He fell in love and - to the dismay of the aristocracy - married her.
As wedding gift Prince Dietrichstein ordered Jean Etienne Lyotard, who was working at the Viennese court at that time, a portrait of his bride in the very clothes in which he first saw her.
They say that on the day of the wedding, the bride invited friends of the chocolate makers and, being happy with her elevation, gave them her hand with the words: "Here! Now I have become a princess, and you can kiss my hand."
This picture is also notable for the fact that it was the first to depict the first porcelain in Europe - Meissen

Now this painting is in Dresden art gallery, but initially it was bought by the Venetian Count Algarotti, a connoisseur and lover of painting. In one of his letters, he said: "I bought the famous Lyotard pastel. It is executed in imperceptible degradations of light and with excellent relief. The transferred nature is not changed at all; being a European work, the pastel is executed in the spirit of the Chinese ... sworn enemies of the shadow. Well As for the finished work, it can be said in one word: this is a pastel Holbein, depicting a young German maid in profile, carrying a tray with a glass of water and a cup of chocolate.

Indeed, the picture shows only one female figure.

But she is depicted in a way that captivates most viewers who visit famous gallery in Dresden. J.-E. Lyotard managed to give the picture the character of a genre scene. There is free space in front of the "Chocolate Girl", so the impression is that the model does not seem to be posing for the artist, but passes in front of the viewer with small steps, carefully and carefully carrying a tray.

The eyes of the "Chocolate Girl" are modestly lowered, but the awareness of her attractiveness illuminates her entire tender and sweet face. Her posture, the position of her head and hands - everything is full of the most natural grace. Her small foot in a gray high-heeled shoe peeks out modestly from under her skirt.

The colors of the "Chocolate Girl" clothes were chosen by J.-E. Liotard in soft harmony: a silver-gray skirt, a golden bodice, a shining white apron, a transparent white scarf and a fresh silk cap - pink and delicate, like a rose petal ... The artist, with his inherent precision, does not deviate a single line from the most detailed reproduction of the form body "Chocolate Girl" and her clothes. So, for example, the dense silk of her dress is quite realistic; the folds of the apron, which had just been taken out of the linen drawer, had not yet straightened out; the glass of water reflects the window, and it reflects the line of the top edge of the small tray.

The painting "Chocolate Girl" is distinguished by its completeness in every detail, which J.-E. Lyotard. Art historian M. Alpatov believes that "because of all these features, "Chocolate Girl" can be attributed to the wonders of optical illusion in art, like those bunches of grapes in the picture of the famous ancient Greek artist who tried to peck sparrows." After the conventionality and mannerisms of some masters of the 18th century, almost photographic accuracy paintings by J.-E. Lyotara gave the impression of a revelation.

The artist worked exclusively in the pastel technique, which was very common in the 18th century, and mastered it to perfection. But J.-E. Lyotard was not only virtuoso master this technique, but also its convinced theoretician. He believed that it was pastel that most naturally conveys color and the subtlest transitions of chiaroscuro within light colorful tones. The very task of showing a figure in a white apron against a white wall is a difficult pictorial task, but J.-E. Lyotara in a combination of a gray-gray and white apron with pale-gray shades and a steely shade of water is a real poetry of colors. In addition, using thin transparent shadows in "Chocolate Girl", he achieved the perfect accuracy of the drawing, as well as the maximum convexity and definiteness of volumes.

based on Wikipedia and the story of N.A. Ionina, publishing house "Veche", 2002

The picture of the Chocolate Girl in the Dresden Gallery attracts with its photographic accuracy, clarity of lines and minimalism. The Swiss painter Jean-Étienne Lyotard masterfully worked in the pastel technique and in viennese period creativity 1743-1745 created his best work. Venetian painters spoke of the painting as the pinnacle of craftsmanship: "the most beautiful pastel you could ever see."

The portrait of a cute girl serving hot chocolate is created on parchment - treated leather. The painting has medium dimensions: 82.5 cm x 52.5 cm. And although it is located among other canvases, it invariably attracts attention.

How Chocolate Lyotara ended up in Germany

The remarkable work of J.E. Lyotard was delivered to the Saxon elector Augustus III Italian writer and art critic Francesco Algarotti.

Count Algarotti appeared at the Saxon court in 1742. He examined all works of art, which made up the royal collection, which won undeniable authority. Because Augustus III was an active collector artistic masterpieces, in 1743, on his behalf, Algarotti went to Italy to replenish the collection with worthy novelties from famous artists.

For about four years, the art critic carried out the mission assigned to him and delivered 34 paintings to Dresden, among which was Lyotard's Das Schokoladenmädchen.

About the author of the painting Chocolate Girl

Jean Etienne Lyotard is a Swiss artist. Why is it best picture“The Beautiful Chocolate Girl” was written in Vienna, and came to the gallery of the Saxon elector from Italy? And the reason is simple. Lyotard began his creative activity in Geneva, but at the age of 32 he went on a long journey to the southeast. At first it was Italy, Greece and Constantinople.

Then the artist ended up in Vienna, where he won the favor of Maria Theresa and worked at the court of the Austrian Empress. It was there that he painted a portrait of a young lady holding a tray of refreshments. When Lyotard again moved to Venice, his interests intersected with Count Algarotti, who acquired the painting for.

Who is in the picture

Until now, it has not been established for certain who posed for the artist when creating the portrait.

There are several versions suggesting that the young beauty could serve at the Viennese court. It is possible that the artist living in Vienna at that time depicted a sweet girl whom he had seen more than once at work.

Some researchers are inclined to the idea that the daughter of a Viennese coachman, who worked as a maid, became the model of the Chocolate Girl. But not every maid is honored by artists with a portrait ... This is followed by romantic story about how Prince Dietrichstein saw the maid Anna and fell in love with a simple girl. And when she married him, he turned to Jean Liotard with a request to write the image that conquered the prince.

Since childhood, I remember the thrill that this picture causes .. A glass of water can be looked at endlessly.
I dream of collecting a collection of books "IZHZL" (from the life wonderful people). This is so, a lyrical digression on a near-cultural theme

And here is the info from the site http://www.nearyou.ru/100kartin/100karrt_36.html
Swiss artist J.-E. Lyotard was called "the painter of kings and beautiful women." Everything in his life was made up of happy accidents and circumstances that the talented artist, who was also gifted with a practical mind, skillfully took advantage of.

At one time, the family of J.-E. Lyotara was forced to emigrate from France to Geneva. The future artist at one time studied in Paris with the engraver and miniaturist Masse. Then in the life of J.-E. Liotard began years of wandering, during which he visited many cities and countries. He traveled as a companion of noble people, as many artists of the 18th century often had to do.

Travel gave J.-E. Lyotard is a diverse material for observations and has accustomed him to almost documentary accuracy of sketches. For portraits J.-E. Lyotard is characterized by exceptional accuracy in the reproduction of the model, and this is precisely what the artist gained European fame for himself and acquired high patrons. He met with a warm welcome from the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna, and from the Pope in Rome, and from the Turkish Sultan in Constantinople. Everyone liked the portraits of J.-E. Lyotard is the similarity of faces, the completeness in the image of the materials of clothing and jewelry, and the colorfulness of his canvases.

The portrait of the beautiful Anna Baldauf (Anna Baltauf), world-famous under the name "Chocolate Girl" (French "La belle chocoladiere") and countless times copied and engraved (located in the Dresden Gallery) was written in Vienna.
Most likely, Anna was a servant at the court of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, where the painter noticed the girl. Anna, the daughter of an impoverished knight, served as a maid at court.
They say that it was there that the young Prince Dietrichstein noticed her beauty.
He fell in love and - to the dismay of the aristocracy - married her.
As a wedding gift, Prince Dietrichstein commissioned Jean-Étienne Lyotard, who worked at the Viennese court at that time, a portrait of his bride in the very clothes in which he first saw her.
They say that on the day of the wedding, the bride invited friends of the chocolate makers and, being happy with her elevation, gave them her hand with the words: "Here! Now I have become a princess, and you can kiss my hand."
This picture is also notable for the fact that it was the first to depict the first porcelain in Europe - Meissen

Now this canvas is in the Dresden Art Gallery, but it was originally bought by the Venetian Count Algarotti, a connoisseur and lover of painting. In one of his letters, he said: "I bought the famous Lyotard pastel. It is executed in imperceptible degradations of light and with excellent relief. The transferred nature is not changed at all; being a European work, the pastel is executed in the spirit of the Chinese ... sworn enemies of the shadow. Well As for the finished work, it can be said in one word: this is a pastel Holbein, depicting a young German maid in profile, carrying a tray with a glass of water and a cup of chocolate.

Indeed, the picture shows only one female figure.
But she is depicted in a way that captivates most viewers visiting the famous gallery in Dresden. J.-E. Lyotard managed to give the picture the character of a genre scene. There is free space in front of the "Chocolate Girl", so the impression is that the model does not seem to be posing for the artist, but passes in front of the viewer with small steps, carefully and carefully carrying a tray.

The painting "Chocolate Girl" is distinguished by its completeness in every detail, which J.-E. Lyotard. Art historian M. Alpatov believes that "because of all these features, "Chocolate Girl" can be attributed to the wonders of optical illusion in art, like those bunches of grapes in the picture of the famous ancient Greek artist who tried to peck sparrows." After the conventionality and mannerisms of some masters of the 18th century, the almost photographic accuracy of the painting by J.-E. Lyotara gave the impression of a revelation.

The artist worked exclusively in the pastel technique, which was very common in the 18th century, and mastered it to perfection. But J.-E. Lyotard was not only a virtuoso master of this technique, but also its staunch theoretician. He believed that it was pastel that most naturally conveys color and the subtlest transitions of chiaroscuro within light colorful tones. The very task of showing a figure in a white apron against a white wall is a difficult pictorial task, but J.-E. Lyotara in a combination of a gray-gray and white apron with pale-gray shades and a steely shade of water is a real poetry of colors. In addition, using thin transparent shadows in "Chocolate Girl", he achieved the perfect accuracy of the drawing, as well as the maximum convexity and definiteness of volumes.

based on Wikipedia and the story of N.A. Ionina, publishing house "Veche", 2002

Tales of masterpieces

Jean-Étienne Lyotard and his "Beautiful Chocolate Girl"
To the 270th anniversary of creation famous painting

"Chocolate Girl" can be attributed to the wonders of deception
vision in art, like bunches of grapes in a painting
ancient artist who tried to peck the birds "
M. Alpatov. Academician of art history

Who does not remember one of the pearls of the Dresden Gallery, fine picture"Chocolate Girl", which depicts a young Viennese beauty, gracefully carrying on a tray a fragile china cup with a newfangled chocolate drink and a glass of clear transparent water? Written almost three centuries ago on parchment in the pastel technique, the picture impresses with its pictorial skill and poetic freshness.
The author of "Chocolate Girl" (other names - "Beautiful Chocolate Girl", German "Das Schokoladenm; dchen", French "La Belle Chocolati; re") is the Swiss artist Jean-Etienne Lyotard (1702 - 1789). He was considered one of the most mysterious masters of his time. There are many legends about his travels and adventures.
Lyotard was born in Geneva in the family of a jeweler from the French Protestants, who once had to emigrate to the Alpine Republic. He showed an aptitude for drawing as a child. He liked to draw portraits of friends, scenes from Roman history, was fond of miniatures and enamel painting. Having started studying in Gardel's workshop, he surpasses his teacher in a few months. Lyotard skillfully copies the canvases of old masters.
In 1725, the artist went to Paris for three years to improve his technique. A few years later he ended up in Rome, where he created many pastel portraits, including Pope Clement XII and a number of cardinals, this was the beginning of his fame in Europe.

I must say that Jean-Étienne had two main hobbies: painting and wanderlust, and much of the artist's life was made up of happy accidents and circumstances related specifically to travel. Once, thanks to an acquaintance with a noble Englishman, Lyotard makes a trip to the East (Messina, Syracuse, Malta, Smyrna, the islands of Delos and Paros), which ended in Constantinople. Here the artist "stayed" for as much as 5 years. He embodied his impressions in magnificent drawings, in which mastery and freedom of possession of technique (a bizarre ligature of patterns, lines, refined tones of a silvery pencil and red-red sanguine) were combined with a documentary accurate reproduction of the appearance of the characters, their costumes, the texture of fabrics and even the cut of clothes. People organically fit into sumptuous decoration rooms with an abundance of carpets, draperies, tables, vases, pillows. True, his oriental beauties sometimes resembled exquisite Parisians.
Back in Europe, Lyotard continued to wear long beard, robe and turban, for which he received the nickname "Turkish artist". He constantly moved from one country to another, communicated with interesting people, painted their portraits, leaving to posterity a reliable "... appearance people long gone from the face of the earth. The synthesis of the decorativeness of French Rococo and the clarity of Dutch realism of the 17th century in the artist's work brought great success to Lyotard.

In 1745, fate brought Jean-Étienne Lyotard to Vienna, where in 1740 the imperial throne was occupied by 23-year-old Maria Theresa, eldest daughter Emperor Charles VI. The Empress rendered famous artist a warm welcome and instructed Prince Dietrichstein, a man close to the court, to take care of the guest.
Soon Lyotard creates here his Galatea - "The Beautiful Chocolate Girl" (82.5; 52.5 cm). The unpretentiousness of the composition, the light atmosphere and the almost photographic accuracy of the pastel, after the conventionality and mannerisms characteristic of the masters of the 18th century, made an impression of revelation on contemporaries. Pastel was perceived by them as a masterpiece on a par with the works of Chardin and Vermeer, with their characters deepened in their daily activities. The Venetian Count Algarotti, a connoisseur and lover of painting, wrote in one of his letters about the "Chocolate Girl": "As for the completeness of the work, we can say in one word: this is Holbein pastels."
Dedicated to Lyotard's masterpiece great amount articles and studies that give a detailed description of it. Here is a small selection of them: “... Nothing special happens in this simple genre scene, but it captivates with the poetic perception of life, great pictorial skill. ... Here everything caresses the eye - a pretty girl with an open, clear face and an easy gait, calm, harmonious combinations light colors- white, pink, golden brown, grey. ...The girl is depicted against an almost neutral background formed by a light wall and floor.
The artist places her to the left of the center of the picture, as if giving the heroine the opportunity to move forward. The direction of her movement is emphasized by a gesture arms outstretched carrying a graceful lacquer tray, the lines of the floor. ... Looking at this picture, one admires how masterfully and precisely the subtlety of a porcelain cup is conveyed (pastel for the first time in European art depicts the recently invented Meissen porcelain), a glass with clear water reflects the window, and refracts the line of the top edge of the tray.
The texture of velvet, silk and lace is wonderfully conveyed. Some fabrics fall in heavy elastic folds, while others, light and mobile, shimmer with different shades of color, gently enveloping the figure. ... The colors of the "Chocolate Girl" clothes were chosen by J.-E. Liotard in soft harmony: a silver-gray skirt, a golden bodice, a shining white apron, a transparent white scarf and a fresh pink silk cap.

There is no reliable information about who the artist portrayed in the image of the “Beautiful Chocolate Girl”. In the most romantic and most beautiful version, the legend of the creation of the "Chocolate Girl" sounds something like this. One chilly winter day in 1745, Prince Dietrichstein dropped into a small Viennese coffee house to try a newfangled hot chocolate drink, which was much talked about at that time. A pleasant drink was also considered healing, and it was served with a glass of water. The young waitress Anna Baldauf, the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, served the aristocrat. The prince was so carried away by the grace and beauty of the girl that he immediately fell in love with her. To get to know Anna better, he now visited the coffee shop almost daily. Despite the strong resistance of the court nobility, in the same year Anna became the wife of Dietrichstein and an Austrian princess. As a wedding gift, the newlyweds ordered the painting "The Beautiful Chocolate Girl" from the artist Lyotard. The master created a masterpiece in which he depicted Anna in the costume of a chocolate waitress, singing love at first sight.

Lyotard's circle of life closed on June 12, 1789, when "the artist of kings and beautiful women" dies, returning to his homeland in Geneva. He created many great work, especially pastels, but in the memory of posterity he remained famous precisely as the author of "Chocolate Girl".
Since 1855, "Chocolate" has been in the collection of the famous Dresden Gallery.

During the Second World War, the painting, along with other masterpieces, was transported by the Nazis to the fortress castle Königstein above the Elbe in Saxon Switzerland, near Dresden. Here, in a deep mined casemate in flat pine boxes, treasures from Dresden were discovered Soviet troops. It's a miracle they weren't blown up during the retreat. German troops, survived and did not have time to die from cold and dampness.
In 1955 Lyotard's pastels were displayed at a farewell exhibition in Moscow among other German art trophies before being returned to Dresden Gallery. The paintings were exhibited from May 2 to August 20, 1955. People came from afar, sometimes queuing for days to see the legendary treasures, among which the modest "Chocolate Girl" by Jean-Étienne Lyotard was not lost.