De la scène au tableau : modalités de passage du théâtre à la peinture dans trois tableaux de Johan Zoffany

This article is a detailed study of three paintings by Johan Zoffany (1733-1810). Their subject is the performance of three plays, The Farmer’s Return, The Provok’d Wife and The Alchymist. In order to show how the transfer from theatrical mode to pictorial mode operates, this study uses two categories defined by Gérard Genette in Palimpsestes. “Transmodalisation” (the change from one mode into another) is perceptible in the transformation of theatrical space into pictorial space as well as in the allusions to the history of painting. “Condensation” operates in several ways, namely summaries, reductions and the blending of two scenes. It can also appear as thematic condensation. The interplay between the two modes of expression, drama and painting, adds ambiguity and hints at the sub-text of the play while at the same time it increases the aesthetic pleasure experienced by the viewer of the painting