Jean II Berain's Costume Designs for the Ballet Les Plaisirs de la Paix (1715) Jérôme de la Gorce

RESUMEN: In the late seventeenth century, the Swedish ambassador and architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger used his sojourn in Paris to frequent the opera house and to build up collections of theatre designs which are now housed in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. He developed links with French artists and, in particular, with the Berain dynasty encouraging his son to continue the association. The son eagerly followed his advice compiling an inventory of the theatrical designs which his father had collected, an inventory which serves to identify those costume drawings for the Ballet Les Plaisirs de la Paix (1715) which are analysed in this essay and published here for the first time.