Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando (Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg)

One of four permanent circuses in Paris, the Cirque Fernando opened in Montmartre in 1875, attracting an enthusiastic following that included members of the Impressionist circle. The Parisian circus was created by a Belgian circus entrepreneur, Ferdinand Beert (1835–1902), known as Fernando, and was built at the corner of the Boulevard de Rochechouart and the Rue des Martyrs, in what was then the edge of the City of Paris, under the name Cirque Fernando. The area was a working-class neighborhood at the foot of the hill of Montmartre, famous for its many places of popular entertainment, including the Moulin de la Galette and the famous Bal du Moulin Rouge—and in the vicinity of the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, where many young painters lived. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting features Francisca Wartenberg (left) and her sister, Angelina (right), members of an itinerant German acrobatic troupe. Ages seventeen and fourteen, respectively, the girls take their bows after a performance, gathering up the tissue-wrapped oranges tossed to them as tributes by members of the audience.

P.S. Here you can dive into the world of Alexander Calder’s circus!