Amalia Ferraris
(1830-1904)

Born in Voghera (Lombardy) in 1830, Amalia Ferraris made her debut in Milan at the age of fourteen. She next danced at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples before appearing in London (1853), Rome (1854) and Vienna (1855). She made her French debut at the Paris Opéra in 1856. Various ballets were composed especially for her and, together with Carolina Rosati, she became one the great ballerinas of her age. She died in Vienna on 1 April 1904.

She is seen here in her last triumph, Paquale Borri’s L’étoile de Messine, first performed at the Paris Opéra on 20 November 1861. A high point of the Paris version was the rousing Tarantella led by Ferraris, in the tragic role of Gazella, and Louis Mérante.