Maria Cretin
in Herculanum

A portrait of Maria Cretin, a dancer with the Paris Opéra, identified by a pencilled inscription verso in a period hand.  

The costume in which she is seen here is probably one worn in the ballet performed during Act III of Félicien David's opera of 1859, Herculanum. There is a Nadar portrait, and also an Alophe illustration, showing Emma Livry wearing an identical costume (and in the case of the Nadar portrait, carrying an identical urn) and in both cases the production is identified as Herculanum.