Summary
Renowned French Egyptologist whose sketch for a possible operatic treatment, received by Verdi through Camille du Locle, inaugurated Aida, and who stands for Said at the end of the French line of Egyptology begun by Champollion (Culture and Imperialism, PDF p.142, p.145-146 / printed p.115, p.118-119).
Details
- Mariette’s intervention in the Aida libretto, disputed by some, has been vindicated definitively by Jean Humbert as the important inaugurating one; immediately behind the libretto was his role as principal designer of antiquities at the Egyptian pavilion in the Paris International Exhibition of 1867, one of the greatest and earliest displays of imperial potency (PDF p.146 / printed p.119).
- In the catalogue he wrote for the 1867 exhibition, Mariette stressed the reconstructive aspects, leaving little doubt that he had brought Egypt to Europe for the first time; he could do so because of his spectacular archaeological successes at some thirty-five sites, including Giza, Sakkarah, Edfu and Thebes, where, in Brian Fagan’s words, he “excavated with complete abandon” (PDF p.147 / printed p.120).
- Mariette was engaged regularly in both excavating and emptying sites, so that as the European museums, especially the Louvre, grew in Egyptian treasure, he displayed the actual tombs in Egypt empty, keeping a bland composure in his explanations to “disappointed Egyptian officials” (PDF p.147 / printed p.120).
- His libretto led to his designs for costumes and sets, back to the scenic designs of the Description de l’Égypte; the temple at Phylae as rendered there was almost certainly in his mind as he designed the first scene in Aida, and his costume notions transmuted pharaonic originals into what pre-historic Egyptians would look like in styles prevalent in 1870 (PDF p.147-148 / printed p.120-121).
- Of the Nile scene he was co-creator with Verdi, and he claimed the whole work in a letter to Draneht (July 19, 1871): Aida is in effect a product of his work, he said — he was the one who convinced the Viceroy to order its presentation — and “is a creation of my brain” (PDF p.149 / printed p.122).
Related pages
Culture and Imperialism, Aida, Giuseppe Verdi, Description de l’Égypte, Imperialism