Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, 1860–1939
Alfons Maria Mucha, known in English as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylised and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.
Gismonda is a Greek-set melodrama in four acts by Victorien Sardou that premiered on October 31, 1894 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance. In 1918, the play was adapted for the now lost film Love's Conquest. In 1918/1919, it was adapted into the opera Gismonda by Henry Février.
Act I starts in 1451 in Athens at the foot of the Acropolis. In the opening act, we find Gismonda, the widow of the Duke of Athens, and the mother of his child, a five-year-old boy named Francesco. Act I →
The second act begins in the Convent of Daphne, where Gismonda has gone into a retreat with her son, Francesco. The boy is ill with a strange fever that comes on every evening and breaks every morning. Act II →
This act takes place in Gismonda's private apartment in her palace. The Athenian populace is not pleased that their Duchess does not keep her vow. Act III →
