Dancing in stone - the right foot of Fanny Elssler, by Félicie de Fauveau, marble, 1847

 

Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 1810, Gumpendorf - 27 November 1884, Vienna), Austrian ballerina, one of the most celebrated dancers of the Romantic Period. Born into a family of musicians who had fallen on hard times, she was performing on stage from the age of seven. At seventeen she and her elder sister Thérèse were finding success in Naples and then in Berlin three years later. Discretely giving birth to an illegitimate son and daughter along the way, she was now a star in Berlin and Vienna, but her debut in Paris, where Maria Taglioni reigned supreme, was long delayed. By this point Elssler had developed her staccato, or taqueté, style, in contrast with Taglioni's floating, ballonné method. And in the fall of 1834, she appeared at the Opéra in Paris, the result of her appearance being another triumph, the temporary eclipse of Taglioni, and enormous celebrity. In the pink and black lace costume she later wore in her performance of the Spanish Cachucha, Elssler's image graced prints and statuettes, snuffboxes and fans. She began a two year tour of the United States in 1840. Returning to Europe, she appeared in Germany, Austria, Italy, England, and Russia. In France, however, Carlotta Grisi had replaced her in the hearts of a fickle public. In 1845, having amassed a fortune, she retired from the stage after a farewell performance at La Scala. Three years later, though, she traveled to St. Petersburg and appeared as an actress in Giselle; the play ran for over two years. She then settled near Hamburg for some time, before spending her last days in Vienna with her son Franz. Her son committed suicide in 1873, at the age of forty-seven. But her daughter Theresa, who had married a baron, remained devoted to her mother. Elssler died of cancer at the age of seventy-four.

After Carl Agricola, circa 1831.

After Friedrich Jentzen, 1831.

After Carl Agricola, 1831.

After Joseph Kriehuber, 1830.

 After Henri Grevedon, 1835.

An N. Currier lithograph of Elssler in probably her most famous dance, the Cachucha. ("N. Currier" only became Currier & Ives in 1857.)

Dancing the Cachucha, by or after Achille Devéria, circa 1836.

A much reproduced statuette by Jean-Auguste Barre, which was clearly based on the illustration by Devéria.

After her retirement, circa 1870.

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Félicie de Fauveau (1801, Livorno – 1886, Florence), French sculptor. Born in Tuscany, she moved to France at the peak of the Restoration, after having spent her childhood in Florence. In Paris, she studied painting and sculpture and established a studio in Paris from 1826 to 1830, at 18 Rue de la Rochefoucauld. Her participation at the Paris Salon of 1827, brought her great acclaim. She received many important commissions and became close to members of the royal family. Following the fall of the Bourbon monarchy in 1830, as a dedicated Legitimist she became involved in ultimately unsuccessful resistance efforts, eventually spending six months in prison. In 1834 she joined her mother in Florence, vowing to remain in voluntary exile until the Bourbons were once again restored, a hope that never materialized.

De Fauveau, by Ary Scheffer, 1829.

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De Fauveau's brother Hippolyte, for many years her assistant, studio manager, and one of her practiciens, is understood to have participated in the creation of the model of Elssler's foot, which was achieved with the aid of a preliminary casting.