Léon Bakst
Costumes for Queen Thamar and a guard in Thamar

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Léon Bakst created a generic, Cossack style, military type of costume, with a long, bright red jacket and floating sleeves. The jacket is bound by a wide cummerbund and worn over striped trousers in contrasting yellow. Bakst selected shiny materials that reflected the light and he placed the zig zag pattern around the edges of the costume, where the most movement occurred. The loose trousers enabled the dancer to move freely.