"Chocolate Girl" - painting, legend, logo

"Chocolate Girl" - a picture of the Swiss artist Jean Etienne Lyotard, the most famous work of the author. Written in the middle of the XVIII century, it still attracts the visitors of the Dresden Gallery, to whose collection it belongs.

Let's get acquainted with the artist

Jean Etienne (1702-1789 gg.) - a non-trivial figure. He was known as the "painter of truth", but not because he wanted to capture the injustice of the world or expose the powers that be. Lyotard loved the exact image of what he saw. His work is often close to photography. Today, such an approach is unlikely to surprise anyone, but at the time there were paintings that convey reality in an embellished form, full of brilliance and compulsory charm. Lyotard can be called a rebel, but with a happy fate. He was loved by the powerful of this world and left to his descendants magnificent portraits of the Marshal of Saxony, Pope Clement XII, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The image of the latter is vividly illustrated by the author's non-standard approach to the eighteenth century: the queen is not written in the surroundings of the attributes of power or full reflection on the fate of Austria; in the portrait she is more like a mother worried about her sons and a woman with health.

Jean Etienne was an avid traveler. He visited Moldova and Romania, did not deprive Italy, France, Greece of his attention, lived for some time in Turkey and brought from there a love for the East and numerous images of gentle beauties against the background of exotic flowers. Just a short time after the artist returns from Constantinople, the "Chocolate Girl" appears - a picture that brought Lyotar worldwide fame.

Attention to detail

The composition of the canvas is quite simple: a full-length girl with a tray in her hand is shown. It's a chocolatier. The author of the picture was able to capture a young person so much that it seems as if she is about to go on past the enthusiastic observers. How is this effect created? It's all about the details. The folds of clothing, the elements of the cup, finally reflected in a glass of water - everything makes the image so realistic that the girl seems alive.

Each element is carefully designed. You can see that the servant's apron is very fresh: even the folds have not yet been smashed, apparently, it was recently put on. The artist paid attention to drawing and lace on the cap, and vegetable ornamentation on the calyx. In creating the illusion of movement, the free space in the direction towards which the chocolate maker is going is also important. Painting Lyotard just this and bribes: realism and simplicity, not devoid of tenderness.

Light and color

The warmth of the artist's relationship to the model is always somehow read by the viewer. Here it is transmitted using a color palette. Delicate, flowing into each other pink, white, golden, silvery-gray glow from the inside, like the very young chocolatier. The painting is painted with a pastel, conveying the slightest nuances of shades. Such a technique of painting Lyotard preferred to others and was considered a true virtuoso pastels.

The author was able to convey the inner light of the heroine. She is modest, but in her bearing and head position pride and consciousness of her own beauty are read. A simple maid? The usual chocolate bar? The picture allows us to hope that this is not so.

Legends of all conquering love

Painter absolutely accurately painted a girl not from his imagination. Despite the fact that Lyotard's chief biographer disagrees with this, the rumor ascribes a romantic origin to the canvas.

Jean Etienne often portrayed beauties, among which is the chocolate bar. The author of the picture, according to one version, was hired by Prince Lichtenstein (or Duke of Dietrichstein) to perpetuate the image of his future wife. The girl was supposedly called Anna or Charlotte Baldauf. In different versions of the legend she served with the empress or in a small cafe. The future husband noticed her at a time when she was carrying a cup of marvelous and fragrant drink to the royal person or visitors to the establishment. Noble lover, despite protests from relatives, made Anna an offer. Having received the consent, he turned to the artist with a request to capture his beloved as she appeared before him for the first time. It's true or a myth, it's hard to know now. However, it is quite certain that the subsequent fate of the picture was full of adventures and a certain romanticism.

To the glory of the confectioners and the edge of death

"Chocolate Girl" visited the collection of the German Elector and got to the Dresden Gallery. There at the end of the XIX century, she noticed the owner of the company Baker's Chocolate. Admiring the picture and inspired by the legends associated with it, he decided to make it a company logo. Chocolate Liotara and to this day can be found on the packaging of delicacies produced by the company.

During the Second World War, it, together with other masterpieces, was taken away from the constantly bombed city and hid in one of the fortresses. In a mined basement it was found by Soviet soldiers and rescued from imminent death, returning back to the gallery.

The picture "Chocolate Girl", photos and reproductions of which are already counted in the thousands, and today is in Dresden. Written more than two centuries ago, it continues to fascinate and inspire.