Édouard Viénot L. D. R..." and "Portrait de Monsieur A. L..." (both at the Paris Salon 1870). Viénot also painted Marie Duplessis (reproduced in the Royal Opera's programme for Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1998). Marie Duplessis was the real-life actress and courtesane on whom Dumas modelled the heroine in "La Dame aux Camélias", on which "La Traviata" is based. Viénot's portrait of the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil is in the Imperial Museum in Brazil (housed in what was formerly his summer palace). Also in Brazil is his "Retrato de Menina" [a portrait of a young
Giuseppe Verdi with Boito, produced in 1881, and a revision of "Don Carlos". Even when "Otello" was virtually completed, Verdi teased "Shall I finish it? Shall I have it performed? Hard to tell, even for me." As news leaked out, Verdi was pressed by opera houses across Europe with enquiries; eventually the opera was triumphantly premiered at La Scala in February 1887. Following the success of "Otello" Verdi commented, "After having relentlessly massacred so many heroes and heroines, I have at last the right to laugh a little." He had considered a variety of comic subjects but had found none of them