MARTHE CHENAL - PATHÉ - HENRI MANUEL 1874-1947 - Lot 285

MARTHE CHENAL - PATHÉ - HENRI MANUEL 1874-1947 Marthe Chenal singing La Marseillaise, 1915. Photograph. Vintage silver print by Henri Manuel, signed in pencil under the image. Image: 28.2 x 22.5 cm; sheet: 33.5 x 28.4 cm Chenal enlisted as a nurse in the early days of August 1914. On August 20, 1914, she performed La Marseillaise at a concert for reservists and war victims. The reopening of Parisian theaters enabled her to resume her career, and she became the "living embodiment of La Marseillaise". She performed in the rear as well as at the front, notably on the stage of the "Théâtre du Front". Having become the muse of the poilus, the government asked her to take part in propaganda missions in Italy. On the evening of November 11, 1918, she sang the national anthem from the balcony of the Opéra Garnier to the crowd gathered to hear and see a national glory. In this photograph, she poses wrapped in the French flag, holding a sword and wearing a black Alsatian headdress adorned with a tricolor cockade. This photograph was to be widely distributed, as was her voice, as she recorded La Marseillaise and Le Chant du départ for Pathé in December 1915.