Page 14 - G19C Maastricht Catalog

Hugues Merle

THE WILLIS (LA LÉGENDE DES WILLIS)

The legend of the Willis depicts the power of the femme fatale to Later in his career, Merle’s subject matter shifted to depictions of
seduce and eventually destroy any man crossing her path. This is the charming genre subjects of young women and children – works that
scene represented by the French Academic painter, Hugues Merle led him to become a commercially successful artist and a worthy
in his Salon entry of 1848. Merle’s interpretation of the legend may rival of William Bouguereau. Therefore, The Legend of the Willis,
have been inspired by the prose of the German poet and literary a painting which is unique and different for the artist, is all the
critic Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) in his 1835 book, De l’Allemagne. more interesting as we consider his career as a whole. It is one of
This work also influenced the theme of the popular 19th century Merle’s most evocative paintings. What at first appears as a tranquil
ballet, Giselle. Heine wrote: scene showing the evening sun disappearing over the horizon,
instead signals the nocturnal appearance of the beautiful Willis
There is a tradition of nocturnal dancing known in Slav countries under they begin their night long dance of seduction. Some historians
the name of Wili. The Wilis are affianced maidens who have died before have hypothesized that the phrase “to give me the willies” is
their wedding-day; those poor young creatures cannot rest peacefully in based on this subject.
their graves. In their hearts which have ceased to throb, in their dead
feet, there still remains that passion for dancing which they could not The Legend of the Willis was originally in the Second Empire
satisfy during life; and at midnight they rise up and gather in bands on collection of Didier Kahn-Sriber, where it graced the walls of his
the highway and woe betide the young man who meets them, for he must lavishly decorated mansion near the Avenue Foch in Paris.
dance until he drops dead.

Attired in their bridal dresses, with garlands of flowers on their heads,
and shining rings on their fingers, the Wilis dance in the moonlight
like the Elves; their faces, although white as snow, are beautiful in
their youthfulness. They laugh with a deceptive joy, they lure you so
seductively, their expressions offer such sweet prospects, that these
lifeless Bacchantes are irresistible (Heinrich Heine, quoted in Cyril
W. Beaumont, The Complete Book of Ballets, New York, 1938, p. 133).

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