Sarah Bernhardt as La Princesse Lointaine

Alphonse Mucha created this poster for a banquet held in Sarah Bernhardt's honor at the Grand Hotel in Paris on 9 December 1896. Bernhardt had played Mélissinde in Edmond Rostand's "La Princesse lointaine" at the Théâtre de la Renaissance beginning in 1895. The design departed from Mucha's earlier full-length theatre posters and was reproduced to announce an article about the actress in the arts magazine "La Plume". It became popular enough to appear in several forms, including an art edition and a department-store postcard. Mucha also designed the lily-covered stage tiara associated with Bernhardt's role. Their collaboration had begun with Gismonda and helped turn both the actress and her designer into internationally recognizable public figures.