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This poster was created for the première production of Victorien Sardou's Gismonda, starring Sarah Bernhardt, at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris.
The first poster for Sarah Bernhardt and the Théâtre de la Renaissance gave Mucha an artistic breakthrough virtually overnight and brought him fame. The actress is portrayed in the costume of Gismonda in the last act of the play; her impressive pose and rapt facial expression became the prototype of French poster art around 1900.
Mucha's desire to create a life-size image of the actress led him to choose a large, elongated format. He took his inspiration from Byzantine mosaics to make Bernhardt into a magnificent, proud figure, which aroused surprise when it appeared on the walls of Paris in January 1895.
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