La Dame aux Camélias by Mucha Poster

La Dame aux Camélias [English: The Lady of the Camellias] is a lithograph by Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha [Alfons Maria Mucha], published by F. Champenois, Paris in 1896. Mucha created it as an advertising poster for the Parisian theatrical performance by the same name, starring Sarah Bernhardt, one of the greatest actresses the world has known. Bernhardt was performing at the Theatre of the Renaissance in Paris, France. She considered this role to be one of the most important of her career. This image shows our heroine against a backdrop of glowing stars. She is wearing her favourite flower in her hair (a white camellia) and is leaning against a ballustrade. On the bottom left we see a mysterious hand, symbolically holding a branch with flowering camellias. This is a slightly brightened copy of the original Mucha lithograph.