An act of compassion?

James Ward (1769-1859); Charles Hénard (1756-1814).

Mdme. Chevalier in the character of Virginia giving water to the negro. Opera of Paul & Virgina.

London, published & sold by the author, 1799.

Mezzotint on paper. 50,7 x 40,4 cm. (sheet), 49,3 x 39 cm. (plate). Trimmed near plate line.

A scene of compassion and a display of inequality, this mezzotint shows the actress and singer Louise Chevalier (c. 1770–after 1801) in the role of Virginie, in a scene from the opera Paul et Virginie. The story, written by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre and first published in 1788, tells of two children raised together in colonial Mauritius. Its portrayal of innocence, nature, and colonial life, including encounters with enslaved or Black characters, fascinated European audiences and made the work enormously popular, inspiring numerous theatrical adaptations. The particular scene depicted here was most likely taken from the opera composed by Jean-François Le Sueur and first performed in 1794.
               The image captures a key emotional moment: Virginie offering water to an exhausted Black man. At first glance, the scene presents a simple act of kindness. The graceful pose, soft lighting, and careful composition all reinforce this message. However, the scene is built on a clear racial hierarchy and white superiority. The Black figure is shown kneeling, dependent, and anonymous, while Virginie stands above him, calm and composed, embodying control and virtue. His role is passive; hers is active and morally elevated. This imbalance reflects the way European art of the period often portrayed Black figures as recipients of white benevolence rather than as individuals in their own right.
               Actress Louise Chevalier, a French performer active on international stages in the 1790s, belonged to a generation of actors whose fame circulated across Europe, and prints such as this helped fix their stage roles in a more permanent, collectible form. Mezzotint, with its soft tonal transitions and painterly effects, was particularly well suited to emotional and theatrical subjects like this one, and was widely used in Britain to reproduce scenes from popular plays and to promote performers to a growing audience.

Condition: generally restored with several mostly marginal closed tears and flattened creases. Slight general toning.

Reference:

Smith, British mezzotint portraits (London, 1884), James Ward, no. 9, p. 1443.

Frankau, Eighteenth Century Artists and Engravers: William Ward A.R.A. and James Ward R.A., 1904.