Étienne Mélingue

ÉTIENNE MÉLINGUE (Caen, 1807-1875).
"Molière".
Bronze.
Susse Frères Editeur.
Signed, with publisher's stamp and titled.
Measurements: 26 cm.

Molière was a famous French playwright. He is considered one of the greatest playwrights in history and father of French Comedy. His relationship with the theater began in 1643 when he signed, together with the Béjart family, comedians, the act of constitution of the Illustrious Theater, which he would direct without much success a year later. For five years, Molière left the French capital to be an actor, returning in 1650 to take charge of the company. Soon his farces and comic plays became famous, being installed by the French king in the Petit-Bourbon theater. His plays began to gain popularity, following the maxim of "correcting manners by laughing", which, together with the royal protection, made Molière gain enemies among those who were ridiculed in his plays. In 1664 he was appointed in charge of the Court entertainments; that same year "Tartuffe" was premiered, a play critical of religious hypocrisy and which provoked angry reactions among the conservative classes, forcing the king to ban the play for five years. With royal support, however, the company became the Royal Company. Although his health began to fail, Molière continued to write immortal plays such as "The Misanthrope" and "The Stick Doctor". His last play, "The Imaginary Sick Man", sadly went down in history due to the attack that the actor and author himself had in one of its representations, from which he did not recover and died.

Actor, sculptor and painter with a passion for theater, Étienne Marin Mélingue was the popular interpreter of the romantic drama of the type popularized by Alexandre Dumas, Sr. One of his greatest successes was that of Benvenuto Cellini, in which he showed his skill as an actor and as a sculptor, modeling before the eyes of the public a statue of Hebe. His wife was also an actress.