Melisande in the Wood
Date1912
MediumWatercolor on ivory
Dimensions3 1/8 × 4 3/16 in. (7.9 × 10.6 cm)
Credit LineSamuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935
Object number1935-64
On View
Not on viewMelisande in the Wood
Label TextThe subject of this painting is drawn from the play Pelléas et Mélisande. Here Melisande is shown crouching by a stream in a wood. She will soon be discovered by, and later married to, Prince Golaud. After marriage Melisande falls in love with Golaud’s younger brother, Pelléas, resulting in a tragic end. The play was the subject of an opera with music by Claude Debussy. The 1909 London performance of the opera may have been the inspiration for this work.
