Prima donna - portraits of Adelina Patti, elegant and common

Adelina Patti (10 February 1843, Madrid – 27 September 1919, Craig-y-Nos Castle, Wales), Italian-French opera singer who, along with Jenny Lind, was the most celebrated soprano of the nineteenth century. World famous and world traveled, she first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914. She possessed a warm, crystalline, wide-ranging and very agile high soprano voice. Regarding her technique, scholar Rodolfo Celletti wrote, "Her voice was a technical marvel. The staccatos were marvels of accuracy, even in the trickiest intervals, her legato was impressively smooth and pure; she connects the voice from note to note, phrase to phrase, lifting and gliding with an exceptional virtuosity. Her chromatic scale was deliciously sweet, and her trill was wonderful and solid." She was nearly as famous for her business acumen as for her voice; at the height of her career, she demanded to be paid five thousand dollars a night, in gold, before any performance, and her contracts were extremely particular about what was due her and what would or wouldn't be required of her. Along the way, she amassed a large fortune which allowed her to spend her declining years in great comfort. In addition to her work on the opera stage and concert hall, another source of income was the lending of her portrait and endorsement to various products; several of the images here are examples of these no doubt lucrative testimonials.

Unidentified artist, circa late 1860s-early 1870s. (The signature and date are indecipherable.)

1863.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1863.

Circa 1860s.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1863.

Circa 1860s.

Circa 1860s.

Gustave Doré, circa 1860s.

Gustave Doré, circa 1860s.

Karoly Marko, circa late 1860s. (It took me forever to figure out what it was hanging across her sleeve... her skates!)

Ludovic Durand, 1869.

In the role of Esmeralda, circa 1870.

Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, 1873.

Circa 1870s.

Circa 1870s.

Friedrich Karl Steinhardt, circa 1870s.

In the role of Aïda, 1879.

Friedrich August von Kaulbach, circa 1870s-80s. (Though this is identified as Patti all over the internet, it doesn't
really resemble her at all; that said, Kaulbach was pretty lousy at getting a likeness, so who knows...!)

Circa 1870s-80s.

Circa 1880s.

Circa 1880s.

Circa 1880s. (A painted-over tintype.)

Circa 1880s. (By the details of the dress and hair, this image and the one above look to be taken from the same source.)

Circa 1880s.

1887.

Circa 1890s.

1894.

James Sant, 1886.