Lithograph by Alphonse Mucha: “En l’honneur de Sarah Bernhardt – ses admirateurs et ses amis”

This elegant lithograph by Alphonse Mucha titled “En l’honneur de Sarah Bernhardt – ses admirateurs et ses amis”, was one of the numerous designs executed by Mucha for Sarah Bernhardt. Sarah Bernhardt is portrayed as Melissinde, Princess of the Orient, from Edmond Rostand’s play La Princesse Lointaine (The faraway princess). Melissinde wears a diadem of fresh Madonna lilies in her hair, a flower that embodies her chaste yet sensual nature. The poster was originally produced for the banquet organized for Sarah by her friends and admirers in the Grand Hotel in Paris on December 9, 1896. The poster’s success can be gauged by the fact that it was published without text for collectors in Edition d’Art and as a postcard for the department store La Belle Jardiniere.