19.00 USD
Meyrianne Héglon (1867-1942), was Belgian born (of Danish extraction), and a mezzo soprano who spent most of her operatic career in France. She made her debut in 1890 at the Opéra de Paris performing the role of Maddalena in Rigoletto. She enjoyed a long and successful career and was married to composer Xavier Leroux, well known himself for the writing of many popular operas.
This image pictures Mme. Héglon as queen Omphale in the four part opera, Astarté, composed by her husband, Xavier Leroux.
In classical myth, Hermes sold Hercules to Queen Omphale of Lydia as a slave. The queen then caused Hercules to to work at a spinning wheel with the women, and to wear a woman's dress, while she wore his lion's skin and carried his massive club.
In Leroux's opera Astarté, which debuted at the Opéra de Paris in 1901, Hercules journeys to Lydia of his own free will. His purpose is to convert the queen and the ladies of her court to his religion, the worship of Jove (his father). Queen Omphale worships Astarté, whose temple is on the isle of Lesbos. Hercules falls madly in love with Omphale and her ladies in waiting, and ends up in the same fix as in the classical myth, enslaved, emasculated, and eventually...well...we won't spoil the ending for you :)
This lovely Art Nouveau image is from a photograph by Leopold Reutlinger circa 1901. The border of curvilinear lines surrounding the image, so typical of Art Nouveau, leaves generous space in which the sender could compose a message. Strict regulation prohibited the writing of anything other than the name and address on the backs of undivided back cards such as this one. Such cards, printed before the new divided back cards that appeared in 1904, are known as "precurseurs" by French collectors, and predate the "golden" era of the postcard's popularity as a means of communication.
Very nice unposted condition on this card! Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!