Artwork
H Beard Print Collection
H Beard Print Collection is a print by Robert Brandard. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The collection comprises five separate 19th‑century prints, each excised from its original sheet.
About this work
Prints from the 19th century show three singers in costume.
Robert Brandard turned theater scenes into collectible pictures.
You can see sheet music mixed in with the costumes.
This set has five different prints, all cut from paper.
One shows Miss Adelaide Kemble, one Mrs. Alfred Shaw.
Another shows Mr. Giubilei in the opera Semiramide.
If you like this, look up the artist.
Overview
The collection comprises five separate 19th‑century prints, each excised from its original sheet. Together they portray three opera singers—Adelaide Kemble, Mrs. Alfred Shaw and the tenor Giubilei—costumed for a performance of Rossini’s Semiramide. The images are presented alongside fragments of contemporary sheet music, linking visual and musical documentation of the production.
Subject & Meaning
The prints capture a moment onstage, emphasizing the elaborate costumes and gestures associated with the characters in Semiramide. By focusing on the three performers, the series highlights the prominence of vocal stars in mid‑Victorian opera culture, offering a visual record of how singers were marketed to audiences beyond the theatre.
Technique & Style
Created by engraver Robert Brandard, the images employ fine line work and tonal shading typical of mid‑1800s theatrical prints. Each plate was cut from a different paper, resulting in subtle variations in texture and tone that enhance the sense of immediacy and collectibility prized by contemporary admirers of the stage.
History & Provenance
The prints were produced as part of a popular series of theatrical souvenirs circulated in Britain during the 1850s. Brandard, known for translating stage spectacles into affordable prints, supplied these images to dealers who sold them to opera‑goers and collectors, preserving a snapshot of a specific Semiramide production.
Context
During the Victorian era, opera singers such as Kemble and Shaw enjoyed celebrity status, and printed memorabilia served both promotional and souvenir functions. The inclusion of sheet‑music excerpts reflects the period’s integrated marketing of visual and auditory experiences, allowing patrons to recall the performance through multiple sensory cues.
Artist & collection
Artist
Robert Brandard (1805, in Birmingham – 7 January 1862, in London) was a British landscape engraver and landscapist.
