Ballet Comique de la Reine

Engraving of the first scene of the Ballet Comique de la Reine. Click to enlarge.

The Ballet Comique de la Reine (at the time spelled Balet comique de la Royne) was an elaborate court spectacle performed on October 15, 1581, during the reign of Henry III of France, in the large hall of the Hôtel de Bourbon, adjacent to the Louvre Palace in Paris.[1] It is often referred to as the first ballet de cour.[2]

  1. ^ Anthony 1997, p. 41, and Lawrenson 1986, pp. 182–184, both identify the location of the performance as the Petit-Bourbon (known as the Hôtel de Bourbon at the time), and Lawrenson reproduces the engraving shown here. Lacroix 1876, p. 506 (the source of the image) identifies it as the "Gallery of the Louvre", and McGowan 1998, p. 275, gives "Salle de Bourbon of the Louvre". Brette 1902, pp. LIV–LXIX, discusses the history of the confusion of the location of this room in the Petit-Bourbon with the Louvre in great detail.
  2. ^ Yates 1988, p. 236.