The actor Raymond Balthasar Dourdet in the role of the rustic Nicodème: he offers to dance at home in his barn. Engraving by F. Basan after L. Vigée.

"The character Nicodème and his wife Babichon are listed among the cast of Le bal de Strasbourg, a theatre work described in the 1744 edition of its libretto as a "divertissement allemand, au sujet de la convalescence du Roi, opera comique ballet." Nicodème was played by Mr. [i.e., Monsieur] Dourdais, Babichon by Mlle. Sauvage. According to the libretto, they do not appear until Scene VI, and the verses on the print do not appear in the libretto. Le bal de Strasbourg is attributed to the librettist Charles-Simon Favart, with music by Philippe Brigard de la Garde and J.L. Lesueur. It was first performed at the Théâtre Italien, Paris, in 1744."--online catalogue of the New York Public Library. Nicodème and his wife Babichon appear at the end so that they can express their infatuation with King Louis XV in rustic language and, being played by skilled dancers, take part in the ball. Louis XV had a serious illness in Metz in 1744

In the background is a ramshackle farm building with a barn below and the upper storey (approached by a ladder) presumably representing the residence of Nicodème and Babichon, as described in the lettering

A Paris (rue St Jacques) : chés Basan, graveur, [between 1750 and 1759?]

1 print : engraving, with etching ; platemark 33.4 x 23.6 cm

Nicodème. Ma mi' Babichon C'est que j'nosois pas Danser d'vant tout le monde: J'aim' tant a danser, Que souvent tout seul, Je dans' dans notre grange. Quoiqu' ça ne paroisse pas, Je suis un gaillard, Comme etoit mon grand oncle: Je suis un peu lourd; Mais quand j'suis en train J'vais plus long-tems qu'un autre. L. Vigée pinx. F. Basan sculp.

Marcel Roux, Inventaire du fonds français, graveurs du XVIIIe siècle, Bibliothèque nationale, Département des estampes, vol. 2, Paris 1933, pp. 147-148, no. 266 ("(265-266). Babichon et Nicodème, deux pendants d'après Louis Vigée. Louis Vigée exposait à l'Académie de Saint-Luc en 1751 'trois... petits tableaux représentant les Babichons de l'Opéra-Comique' (no. 131). ... 266. ... C'est le portrait de Dourdet, danseur à l'Opéra-Comique.")

Wellcome Collection 3043803i

Forms a pair with a print of Babichon, played by Mlle Sauvage, in which she invites Nicodème to dance