Engraving made after the 1857 Nadar photograph – alternate of the print located in the Met.

Italian composer and prolific master of lighthearted opera buffa, Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868) became the director of the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1824. After completing William Tell in 1829, he ceased writing and returned to Italy, where his nerves and health deteriorated. On moving back to Paris in 1855, the famous gourmand recovered his spirits and became a beloved fixture of Parisian society.