Charles Moïse Bernheim

Charles Moïse Bernheim
French, 1859 - about 1930
Audience in the Arles Amphitheater, 1899
Matte-collodion printed out print, mounted as boudoir card
16.5 x 22.8 cm (Sheet)
18.6 x 24.6 cm (Mount)
Janos Scholz Collection, 1981.031.108

On May 21, 1854, Saint Estelle’s day, seven young poets met at the Château de Font-Ségugne in Vaucluse. Together they pledged to restore the language and literature of their native region of Provence. Their aim was to defend and promote the Occitan language (Langue d’Oc) , a form of medieval French spoken south of the Loire that formed the basis of modern Provençal. They named their movement from the Bible story of the young Christ who disputed in the temple with Seven Doctors of the Law (li sét felibre de la léi). The movement stimulated a renaissance of the literature, language, and customs throughout southern France.

Prominent among the Félibrige was Frédéric Mistral, a poet who would transcribe the medieval songs of the troubadours, and compile an Occitan dictionary. His poem Mireio became a national sensation when it was published in 1859 both in dialect and in Classical French. It tells of the doomed love between Mireio, the daughter of a wealthy family and Victor, the poor son of a basket-weaver. In 1864 the composer Charles Gounoud based his opera Mireille, upon Mistral's poem. Michel Carré composed the opera's libretto, setting the story in Provence and incorporating local customs and details. The opera was a notable success, and Provençal audiences adopted the fictitious Mireille as a local heroine.

In 1899, six years after Gounoud's death, Mireille was still a subject of celebration and debate in the Midi. This photograph records the audience of a local performance of the opera. The animated crowd is gathered in the Arles amphitheater, an historic regional landmark. Built in 90 CE, this monumental Roman structure entertained crowds of over 20,000 with chariot races and gladiatorial contests. In the nineteenth-century the amphitheater had become the venue for bullfights and the annual Feria d'Arles. In this photograph the audience is seated in the sandy arena itself. Hanging along the walls above it are clusters of tricolor pennants, atop shields emblazoned with RF (République Française). These decorations date the image to the Second Empire. The Arles production had a regional authenticity, with Monsieur Valcourt (Jean Anfossi) of the Théâtre de Nîmes directing the Marseilles Orcheta, and starring the soprano Jane Marignan, a Nîmes native. The performance also included the farandole, the traditional community dance of Provence.

The photographer Charles Moïse Bernheim operated a family studio in Nîmes, continuing the business established by his father and namesake. At the end of the nineteenth century, he shifted the business by printing his negatives of local interest as postcards. These were sold inexpensively at his studios in Nîmes and Avignon, and were distributed throughout France. The affordable photographs were attractive souvenirs, and a way to share the Arles event with fellow félibres.

Alexis Kelly, '23