Representations of Anne of Brittany - Depictions in Art, Fiction and Drama

Depictions in Art, Fiction and Drama

Anne is widely portrayed in dramatisations and artworks, mostly in Brittany. Many of these date from the turn of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries. A stained glass window in Vannes Town Hall depicts her marriage to Charles VIII, as does a tapestry, formerly in the Parlement of Brittany, Rennes. Her marriage was also depicted in a large bronze sculpture in Rennes Town Hall, which was destroyed by Breton nationalists in 1932. She appears greeting the Breton people in a large stained glass window in the Church of Saint Malo in Dinan. A statue by Jean Fréour is placed outside the castle of the Dukes in Nantes.

She is also depicted in musical works. Anne de Bretagne was the title of an opera composed by Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray in the 1870s. Bourgault, himself distantly related to Anne, was also born in Nantes and aimed to promote Breton culture throughout much of his music. Two operas, also called Anne de Bretagne, were also created in the 21st century. Anne de Bretagne, an opera by Breton composer Pierick Houdy, libretto by Jean-Michel Fournereau, was first performed in Rennes 2001, featuring Agnès Bove in the title role. Houdy also wrote an Anne de Bretagne Mass. The second operatic work was the rock opera Anne de Bretagne, by Alan Simon, was first performed in Nantes in June 2009 starring Cécile Corbel (as Anne), Fairport Convention, Nilda Fernandez, Tri Yann, Les Holroyd and others.

Anne is also referred to in songs. A song of Gilles Servat evokes her life: Kaoc'h ki gwenn ha kaoc'h ki du. If dead died, an anonymous poem going back to her funeral, and now performed by the popular Breton folk musicians Tri Yann. Another song of their repertory refers to the Duchess.

Her name is widely used in other contexts, such as Duchesse Anne, the name of a beer produced in Brittany. The square three-masted ship Duchesse Anne, is currently moored in the Port of Dunkirk.

Anne is the subject of Eleanor Fairburn's historical novel, Crowned Ermine, published in 1968

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