Esterno Di Una Capanna [The exterior of a Cabin]. Questa Scena fu esequita pel Ballo Pantomimo serio Il Naufragio de La Peyrouse, posto sulle scene dell'I.R. Teatro alla Canobbiana, dal Sig. William Barrymore. L'Autuno dell'anno 1825

Atmospheric coloured aquatint depicting an evocative scene from the staging of the "Ballet-Pantomime" based on the disappearance of La Pérouse in the Pacific. Between the complete disappearance of the expedition in 1788 and the discovery of relics in 1827, just a couple of years after this performance, the mystery had captivated Europe. (Famously Louis XVI is said to have repeated on his way to the scaffold the question that he had been asking for months: ''Is there any news of M. de La Pérouse?").

The disappearance inspired various highly imaginative performances or visualisations, and this scene was evidently one of the highlights from a very successful "pantomime" much performed in England and here being toured in northern Italy. As the caption notes the Naufragio was staged at the Teatrico Lirico in Milan (known as the Canobbiana until the 1890s). It starred the English actor William Barrymore (1759-1830). His European tour is not noted in the biography provided by the wonderful Garrick Club archives which mention his appearances in 'musical pieces and comedies. He was also a leading actor at the Haymarket Theatre for many summer seasons. Critical reports describe him as an awkward performer, who acted with stiff knees, and had trouble retaining his lines; but at least one friendly source praised his judgment, noted his improvement over the years and suggested that he was industrious and steady as a second-rate actor. The last several years of his career he spent in the provinces...'.

The image dates from the high-water mark of early Italian opera, a period when innovations in set-design saw staging become a vital part of the art form. The staging was certainly dramatic with a hut apparently made from salvaged timbers at right in the shade of a rocky outcropping and several exotic plants.

This moody scene is by Alessandro Sanquirico a Milanese artist and stage-designer who was inspired to document the striking sets of the Milanese opera. It was engraved by Carolina Lose, née von Schlieben, who was well known for engraved topographical views of Italy produced in collaboration with her husband Federico. Sanquirico and the Lose pair collaborated on a number of Milanese theatrical subjects.

An extremely handsome image, one of the finest produced on the epic story of La Perouse: we have tracked down just one other example, in the Cia Fornaroli collection of the New York Public Library.