Everyone who has ever been to the Dresden Art Gallery will definitely remember two paintings: “ Sistine Madonna» Raphael and a small pastel. Why did we suddenly think of the painting while talking about chocolate? Because the picture is called "Chocolate Girl" and it has its own legends and history.
Before us is a young charming girl in a white apron and cap, as they were worn in the 18th century, with a tray in their hands. On the tray is a glass of water and a cup of steaming chocolate, which is how they drank a popular drink in Europe at that time. They didn't even know about solid chocolate back then.
The artist worked out all the details so carefully that the portrait seems to be a living photograph. A slight blush on the girl's cheeks, a languid look. AT transparent glass with water reflected window. In an elegant white mug you can recognize the newly invented Meissen porcelain. The color scheme is very simple, restrained, but warm and gentle.
With whom Lyotard wrote "Chocolate Girl" is not exactly known. But in each of the versions of the creation of the picture there is a love story for a woman and for chocolate.
The Legend of the Beautiful Chocolate Girl
According to one version, the Austrian prince Dietrichstein went to a coffee shop to try chocolate, which went crazy all over Europe. His waitress was the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, Anna Baltauf. Dietrichstein was captivated by both the taste of the drink and the beauty of the girl.
Of course, the noble family did not share the heir's hobbies. But this beautiful love story had happy ending, and Anna and the prince got married. And the gift to his wife for the wedding was her portrait in the form in which her future husband first saw her.
A touching love story at first sight between a chocolate Cinderella and a rich heir could not leave anyone indifferent.
And when, in 1862, the president of the American chocolate company, Henry L. Pierce, saw the picture, he immediately bought the rights to use the image.
The beautiful "Chocolate Girl" has become a symbol of the "Baker's Chocolate" trademark. This was perhaps the first acquisition of image rights in the history of the business for such a purpose.
Since 1765, the painting was kept in the Dresden Gallery, but disappeared during the Second World War. And was found Soviet troops in the Königstein fortress.
Now the original painting is in Germany, in the Dresden Gallery, and its copy is in the Baker Chocolate Company Museum in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Video "Chocolate Girl, Jean Etienne Lyotard - review of the picture"
Other interesting materials.
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate girl, 1745. Fragment | Photo: artchive.ru
Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Lyotard is considered one of the most enigmatic painters XVIII century. Legends about his travels and adventures have come down to our days no less than exciting stories about his paintings. most famous work Lyotara is undoubtedly the "Chocolate Girl". Associated with this picture interesting legend: according to the testimony of the artist's contemporaries, here he portrayed a waitress who married the prince, to whom she once served chocolate in a cafe. But about the character and moral character This person has very conflicting evidence ...
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Self-portrait (Lyotar Laughing), 1770. Fragment | Photo: artchive.ru
In Lyotard's painting "Chocolate Girl" we see a modest girl who humbly lowered her eyes, probably in front of a visitor to a coffee shop, to whom she is in a hurry to serve hot chocolate. According to one version, which for a long time was generally accepted, the artist depicted in this picture Anna Baltauf, a well-bred representative of an impoverished noble family. One day in 1745, Prince Dietrichstein, an Austrian aristocrat, a descendant of the richest ancient family, went to a Viennese coffee house to try a newfangled chocolate drink. He was so subdued modest charm a sweet girl who decided to marry her, despite the protests of his family.
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate girl, 1745 | Photo: artchive.ru
Wanting to present to his bride unusual gift, the prince allegedly ordered her portrait to the artist Lyotard. However, it was an unusual portrait - the prince asked to portray the girl in the image in which he met her and fell in love at first sight. According to another version, the artist depicted in the picture the chambermaid of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, who struck him with her beauty.
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Self-portraits 1768 and 1773 | Photo: liveinternet.ru and artchive.ru
Skeptics argue that in fact everything was much less romantic than in beautiful legend. And even Anna was not Anna, but the simple Nandl Balthauf, who came not from a noble family, but from ordinary family- all her ancestors were servants, and women achieved the blessings of life by often providing special services in the master's beds. It was precisely for such a fate that the girl was prepared by her mother, who insisted that in another way her daughter could not achieve either money or happiness.
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate lady. Fragment | Photo: artchive.ru
According to this version, the prince first saw the girl not in a cafe, but serving in the house of one of his acquaintances. Nandl tried to catch his eye more often and in every possible way tried to attract attention to herself. The plan succeeded, and the smart maid soon became the mistress of the aristocrat. However, she was not satisfied with the role of "one of", and she ensured that the prince began to introduce her to his guests and stopped meeting with other mistresses.
*Chocolate Girl* Lyotara in the Dresden Gallery | Photo: livemaster.ru
And soon the world was shocked by the news: Prince Dietrichstein was marrying a maid! He really ordered a portrait of the bride to Lyotard, and when he told him about his chosen one, the artist said: “Such women always achieve what they want. And when she succeeds, you will have nowhere to run. The prince was surprised and asked what Lyotard meant, and he replied: “There is a time for everything. There will come a time when you yourself will understand this. I fear, however, that it will be too late. But, apparently, the prince did not understand anything: until the end of his days, he lived with his chosen one and died, bequeathing to her all his fortune. Not a single woman was able to approach him anymore. And the wife in her declining years managed to achieve honor and recognition in the world.
*Chocolate Girl* – one of the most replicated works of the 18th century | Photo: fb.ru
Since 1765, the “Chocolate Girl” has been in the Dresden Gallery, and during World War II, the Nazis took this picture, along with other gallery exhibits, to the Königstein Castle above the Elbe, where the collection was later discovered by Soviet troops. By what miracle the precious collection was preserved there, despite the cold and dampness of the cellars, art historians are still surprised.
One of the oldest trademarks USA | Photo: fb.ru and itom.dk
The identity of the model in the portrait has not yet been accurately identified, but Lyotard's "Chocolate Girl" seems to fascinate everyone who comes to the Dresden Gallery, and is considered one of her best masterpieces. It is noteworthy that "Shokoladnitsa" became one of the first trademarks in the history of marketing. It is still used as a logo by a chain of coffee houses.
The Swiss artist Jean Etienne Lyotard, whose “Chocolate Girl” is the pearl of the Dresden Collection art gallery, for its long and happy life(1702-1789) created about 400 works. “Holbein pastels” (as colleagues called Lyotard, thereby recognizing his unconditional talent) did not write bad jobs, however, the canvas named at the beginning of the article became a masterpiece of world painting.
Photographic Image Accuracy
What does Holbein pastels mean? The works of the greatest German artist The younger ones are famous for their portrait resemblance and jewelry elaboration of drawings. But he painted in oils, and pastels glorified Lyotard. "Chocolate" - the most famous painting done in this manner. All paintings by the Swiss artist are different photographic accuracy, the smallest development of each detail. One of the art critics compared Lyotard with the ancient Greek artist Zeuxis, famous topics that, wanting to prove his superiority over the master of realism Parrhasius, he painted such a grape, on which birds immediately flocked to peck it.
Perfect and fragile
Lyotard was the same virtuoso. According to this art critic (M. Alpatov), “Chocolate Girl” refers to those masterpieces in which there is a wonderful optical illusion. A lot has been written about this work, including because it was done in a manner that is much rarer than watercolor, engraving, and even more so. oil painting. Artists resorted to pastel less often because of its fragility and susceptibility to destruction with the smallest careless movements, because binders extremely little was added to the starting material - paste (therefore "pastel"). Hence the timeless freshness of colors on canvases made in this manner (materials added to oil paints, darken). And pastel works crumble and collapse during transportation. Over time, the authors of such paintings came to the conclusion that they are best preserved under glass, based on a passe-partout - a cardboard edging of the canvas on which the work was done. In this case, the glass does not touch the pattern. But these fragile works are distinguished by a bewitching radiance, velvety and specific softness.
Free, imposing, mysterious ...
It was in this manner that Lyotard wrote. “Chocolate Girl” is the most famous and best, according to many experts, pastel work, although the artist himself did not distinguish it from everything previously created. Talented and lucky, he was known as a master who painted royalty and beauties. Jean Etienne was wealthy and could only afford to do what he loved - painting and traveling. Lyotard was absolutely free both in life, despite the presence of five children, and in creativity. He was extravagant and mysterious, he was patronized by the royal houses of Europe.
Mysterious Model
According to one version, beautiful girl, depicted in the picture, is Anna Baldauf, the daughter of an impoverished knight. Noble origin allowed her to be a maid at the court of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. There, the artist noticed her beauty and grace. According to another, more romantic version, Prince Dietrichstein, visiting was captivated by the beauty of the waitress at first sight. He married her, against the will of the family, and for the wedding he gave his Cinderella her portrait in the outfit in which he saw Anna for the first time. The gift was royal, since Lyotard was a court painter, and his work was very expensive. There are other versions about the posing model.
Charming simplicity
The picture is captivating, it fascinates, despite the fact that its plot is more than simple. After the artsy paintings, say, by the same Watteau, which depicted coquettish ladies and gentlemen, the lonely figure of a girl carrying a tray along a white wall looked unexpectedly simple, natural and charming. The canvas measuring 82.5 x 52.5 is made on parchment with pastels, which the artist Lyotard was fluent in. “Chocolate Girl”, written in striking filigree accuracy of objects - the girl just got the apron from the chest of drawers, the slightest wrinkle is visible on it, the chocolate giver herself seems to be breathing, and the chocolate smells.
Visual aid in physics
Everything is charming in the chocolate maker - a small leg, a straight back, but not tense, the girl is not exhausted by thinness, but slender. The costume is wonderfully written, the colors are wonderfully chosen. And after all, one must take into account that only a white wall serves as a background - no bust or tubs of flowers for you. But connoisseurs of painting from the moment the painting appeared to the present day are especially delighted with a lacquered Chinese tray in the hands of a girl, on which there is a glass of water and cups of chocolate. The picture is also valuable because it depicts for the first time the famous man who has his long and wonderful story. But a glass filled with water is written out in such a way that, according to experts, it clearly demonstrates on the border of two transparent media (Snell's law). This is one of the best praises deserved by J. E. Lyotard. "Chocolate Girl" is not considered a portrait, but a genre scene.
Oldest US trademark
From the moment of writing, fate favors this work - it is very replicated and incredibly popular, including today. Not everyone can boast of this. work XVIII century. What's the matter here? Since 1765, the canvas has been in the Dresden art gallery, and 120 years later I saw it when visiting famous museum the owner of the oldest American concern Bakers Chocolate, which was engaged in the production of this product. Henry L. Pierce was fascinated by what Jean Lyotard painted. "Shokoladnitsa" becomes the trademark of the company. La Belle Chocolatière lovely chocolate girl”) - the logo, approved two years later, went down in history as the first and oldest trademark in the United States and one of the oldest in the world.
A wide and unsurpassed gesture of the USSR
In the Soviet Union, this painting became especially popular when, in 1955, the paintings received by the country in the form of war trophies were returned to the Dresden Gallery by the will of N. S. Khrushchev.
Most refurbished by the best Soviet masters masterpieces before being sent were exhibited from May 2 to August 20, and people from all over the vast country were in a hurry to say goodbye to the paintings, among which were famous painting, which was created by Jean Etienne Lyotard - "Chocolate Girl".
La Belle Chocolatière, German Das Schokoladenmadchen) - most famous picture Swiss artist XVIII century J. E. Lyotard , depicting a maid carrying hot chocolate on a tray . Made in the pastel technique on parchment.
Story
The legend about the creation of this picture is as follows: in 1745, the Austrian aristocrat Prince Dietrichstein went into a Viennese coffee house to try a new chocolate drink, which was so much talked about at that time. His waitress was Anna Baltauf, daughter of the impoverished nobleman Melchior Baltauf. The prince was subdued by her charm, and, despite the objections of his family, took the girl as his wife. "Chocolate Girl" wedding gift for the new princess, ordered by the newlywed from the fashionable Swiss artist Lyotard. The portrait painter portrayed the bride dressed as an 18th century waitress, immortalizing love at first sight. (This version is real story Cinderella - was popularized in the booklets of the Baker company).
According to another version, the future princess's name was Charlotte Balthauf, her father was a Viennese banker and the picture was painted in his house - this is the inscription preserved on a copy of the picture stored in London in the Orleans House Gallery. There is also a variant according to which it was not a custom-made portrait, but a painting painted according to own will the artist, struck by the beauty of the girl, from the maid of the Empress Maria Theresa, called Balduf and who later became the wife of Joseph Wenzel von Liechtenstein. In any case, the identity of the model has not been definitely established.
From a letter
“I bought a pastel of the famous Lyotard.
It is executed in imperceptible gradations.
light and with excellent relief.
The transmitted nature is by no means
changed; being a European job,
the pastel is executed in the spirit of the Chinese ...
sworn enemies of the shadow. As for
completion of the work, we can say
in one word: this is Holbein pastels.
It shows a young woman in profile
German maid who
carries a tray with a glass of water and
a cup of chocolate."
After leaving Vienna, Lyotard arrived in Venice, where he sold this pastel to Count Francesco Algarotti, who was filling the collection of August III, King of Poland, and Frederick II of Prussia.
In popular culture
The portrait was exhibited at the Dresden Gallery, where it was seen by Henry L. Pierce, president of the American chocolate trading company, and in 1862 American company Baker's Chocolate acquired the rights to use the painting, making it the oldest trademark in the US and one of the oldest in the world. Often there is a variant of its use in the form of a black and white silhouette. Another copy of the painting is in the Baker House Museum in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
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An excerpt characterizing the Chocolate Girl (painting)
It looked, I must say, very unpleasant ... My skates had short boots (it was still impossible to get high boots at that time), and I saw that my entire leg at the ankle had been cut almost to the bone ... Others also saw, and then panic began. The nervous girls almost fainted, because the view, frankly, was creepy. To my surprise, I was not frightened and did not cry, although in the first seconds the state was almost like a shock. Holding the incision with all my might, I tried to concentrate and think about something pleasant, which turned out to be quite difficult because of the cutting pain in my leg. Blood seeped through the fingers and fell in large drops on the ice, gradually gathering on it into a small puddle ...Naturally, this could not calm down the already rather excited guys. Someone ran to call an ambulance, and someone clumsily tried to help me somehow, only complicating an already unpleasant situation for me. Then I tried to concentrate again and thought that the bleeding should stop. And began to wait patiently. To everyone's surprise, in just a minute nothing was seeping through my fingers! I asked our boys to help me get up. Fortunately, my neighbor, Romas, was there, who usually never contradicted me in anything. I asked him to help me get up. He said that if I stood up, then the blood would probably “flow like a river” again. I took my hands away from the cut... and what was our surprise when we saw that there was no more blood at all! It looked very unusual - the wound was large and open, but almost completely dry.
When it finally arrived Ambulance, the doctor who examined me could not understand in any way what had happened and why I, with such a deep wound, did not bleed. What he didn't know was that not only did I not bleed, but I also didn't feel any pain at all! I saw the wound with my own eyes and, according to all the laws of nature, I should have felt a wild pain ... which, oddly enough, in this case was not at all. I was taken to the hospital and prepared to be stitched up.
When I said that I did not want anesthesia, the doctor looked at me as if I were a quiet lunatic and prepared to give an anesthetic injection. Then I told him that I would scream ... This time he looked at me very carefully and, nodding his head, began to sew up. It was very strange to watch how my flesh was pierced with a long needle, and I, instead of something very painful and unpleasant, felt only a slight “mosquito” bite. The doctor watched me all the time and asked several times if everything was all right with me. I answered yes. Then he asked if this always happens to me? I said no, just now.
I don’t know whether he was a very “advanced” doctor for that time, or whether I somehow managed to convince him, but, one way or another, he believed me and did not ask any more questions. About an hour later I was already at home and with pleasure devoured warm grandmother's pies in the kitchen, not eating at all and sincerely surprised at such a wild feeling of hunger, as if I had not eaten for several days. Now, of course, I already understand that it was simply too much loss of energy after my “self-treatment”, which urgently needed to be restored, but then, of course, I still could not know this.
The second case of the same strange self-anaesthesia occurred during an operation that our family doctor, Dana, persuaded us to go for. As far as I could remember, my mother and I often had a sore throat. This happened not only from a cold in winter, but also in summer, when it was very dry and warm outside. As soon as we overheated a little, our sore throat was here, as it were, and made us lie in bed without getting out for a week or two, which my mother and I equally disliked. And so, after consulting, we finally decided to heed the voice of "professional medicine" and remove what so often prevented us from living a normal life (although, as it turned out later, there was no need to remove this, and this, again, was another mistake of our "omniscient "doctors).
The operation was scheduled for one of the weekdays, when my mother, like everyone else, naturally worked. She and I agreed that first, in the morning, I would go for the operation, and after work, she would do it. But my mother ironically promised that she would definitely try to come at least for half an hour before the doctor starts to “gut” me. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel fear, but there was some kind of aching feeling of uncertainty. It was the first operation in my life and I had no idea how it would happen.
From the very morning, like a lion cub in a cage, I walked back and forth along the corridor, waiting for when all this would finally begin. Then, as now, what I disliked the most was waiting for anything or anyone. And I have always preferred the most unpleasant reality to any "fluffy" uncertainty. When I knew what was happening and how, I was ready to fight it or, if necessary, to solve something. In my understanding, there were no unsolvable situations - there were only indecisive or indifferent people. Therefore, even then, in the hospital, I really wanted to get rid of the “trouble” hanging over my head as soon as possible and to know that it was already behind ...
I never liked hospitals. The sight of so many suffering people in the same room inspired me with real horror. I wanted, but could not help them in any way, and at the same time I felt their pain as strongly (apparently completely “turning on”), as if it were mine. I tried to somehow protect myself from this, but it fell like a real avalanche, leaving not the slightest opportunity to get away from all this pain. I wanted to close my eyes, withdraw into myself and run, without turning around from all this, as far as possible and as quickly as possible ...
Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Lyotard considered one of the most mysterious painters XVIII century. Legends about his travels and adventures have come down to our days no less than exciting stories about his paintings. Lyotard's most famous work is undoubtedly "Chocolate Girl". An interesting legend is connected with this painting: according to the testimony of the artist's contemporaries, here he depicted a waitress who married a prince, to whom she once served chocolate in a cafe. But about the character and moral qualities of this person, very contradictory evidence has been preserved ...
In Lyotard's painting "Chocolate Girl" we see a modest girl who humbly lowered her eyes, probably in front of a visitor to a coffee shop, to whom she is in a hurry to serve hot chocolate. According to one version, which was generally accepted for a long time, the artist depicted in this picture Anna Baltauf, a well-bred representative of an impoverished noble family. One day in 1745, Prince Dietrichstein, an Austrian aristocrat, a descendant of the richest ancient family, went to a Viennese coffee house to try a newfangled chocolate drink. He was so subdued by the modest charm of a sweet girl that he decided to marry her, despite the protests of his family.
Wishing to give his bride an unusual gift, the prince allegedly ordered her portrait to the artist Lyotard. However, it was an unusual portrait - the prince asked to portray the girl in the image in which he met her and fell in love at first sight. According to another version, the artist depicted in the picture the chambermaid of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, who struck him with her beauty.
Skeptics argue that in fact everything was much less romantic than in a beautiful legend. And even Anna was not Anna, but the simple Nandl Baltauf, who did not come from a noble family, but from an ordinary family - all her ancestors were servants, and women achieved life's blessings by often providing special services in the master's beds. It was precisely for such a fate that the girl was prepared by her mother, who insisted that in another way her daughter could not achieve either money or happiness.
According to this version, the prince first saw the girl not in a cafe, but serving in the house of one of his acquaintances. Nandl tried to catch his eye more often and in every possible way tried to attract attention to herself. The plan succeeded, and the smart maid soon became the mistress of the aristocrat. However, she was not satisfied with the role of "one of", and she ensured that the prince began to introduce her to his guests and stopped meeting with other mistresses.
And soon the world was shocked by the news: Prince Dietrichstein was marrying a maid! He really ordered a portrait of the bride to Lyotard, and when he told him about his chosen one, the artist said: “Such women always achieve what they want. And when she succeeds, you will have nowhere to run. The prince was surprised and asked what Lyotard meant, and he replied: “There is a time for everything. There will come a time when you yourself will understand this. I fear, however, that it will be too late. But, apparently, the prince did not understand anything: until the end of his days, he lived with his chosen one and died, bequeathing to her all his fortune. Not a single woman was able to approach him anymore. And the wife in her declining years managed to achieve honor and recognition in the world.
Since 1765, the “Chocolate Girl” has been in the Dresden Gallery, and during World War II, the Nazis took this picture, along with other gallery exhibits, to the Königstein Castle above the Elbe, where the collection was later discovered by Soviet troops. By what miracle the precious collection was preserved there, despite the cold and dampness of the cellars, art historians are still surprised.
The identity of the model in the portrait has not yet been accurately identified, but Lyotard's "Chocolate Girl" seems to fascinate everyone who comes to the Dresden Gallery, and is considered one of her best masterpieces. It is noteworthy that "Shokoladnitsa" became one of the first trademarks in the history of marketing. It is still used as a logo by a chain of coffee houses.
Lyotard painted portraits and prominent people of her time - for example, the empress in the XVIII century.
