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The Collation

Dalí as you like him

The change of pace in this month’s crocodile mystery is thanks to Salvador Dalí. Surely you, like our commenters, recognized those elongated legs. And if I’d shared the companion image, you’d have guessed that immediately as well.

Dali's backdrop for the court scenes

Dalí’s backdrop for the court scenes in Rosalinda

Dali's backdrop for the forest scenes

Dalí’s backdrop for Rosalinda‘s forest scenes

But what’s he doing in the Folger Shakespeare Library’s collections? Sharing his designs for As You Like It, obviously!

  1. Mario Praz, “Italy: Surrealistic ‘Rosalinda'” Shakespeare Survey 3 (1953) 118.
  2. I’m not sure why this costume sketch is labelled “Vaneur”—perhaps it’s the surname of one of the actors?
  3. See Cynthia Marshall’s edition of the play for Cambridge’s Shakespeare in Production series for some examples of how this scene has been perf0rmed.

Comments

Great images! Regarding the “Veneur” costume– “veneur” is” hunter” in 16th century French. I would imagine the costume is for Jacques– that poor deer he wept over is not a fetching codpiece!

Nicola Imbracsio — November 4, 2014

Reply

Thanks, Nicola–this is very helpful! I updated my post to include this information and some additional tidbits I scouted out.

Sarah Werner — November 5, 2014

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The elephant and obelisk reminds me of Bernini’s statue outside Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_and_Obelisk

Piers Brown — November 4, 2014

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Yes, you’re right—and that’s actually the connection that Michael Jamieson makes in his essay on the performance history of the play for Edward Tomarken’s collection of essays (Garland, 1997).

Sarah Werner — November 5, 2014

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