page_title: Cirque Medrano
section_title: Cirque Fernando
hierarchical_section_title: Cirque Medrano / History / Cirque Fernando
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, "In the Circus Fernando The Ringmaster" (aka “Cirque Fernando: The Equestrienne”), oil, 1887-88 (Art Institute of Chicago)
context_page_description: The Cirque Medrano is a French circus that was located at 63 Boulevard de Rochechouart, at the corner of rue des Martyrs, in the 18th arrondissement at the edge of Montmartre in Paris. It was originally called Cirque Fernando. The title "Cirque Medrano" is still active today: it is now a successful French traveling circus.
context_section_description: An acrobat and equestrian, Fernando started his Cirque Fernando in Vierzon, France, in 1872. The following year, he came to Paris to perform at the Fête de Montmartre, but the traditional fairgrounds for this annual fair were on the very spot on which the Church of the Sacré-Cœur was being built. Fernando thus went on to search for a suitable empty lot nearby, and found it on the Boulevard de Rochechouart, between the rue des Martyrs and the present rue Viollet-le-Duc. He had considerable success there, which went far beyond the context of the fair. He therefore managed to obtain a thirty-year lease on his piece of land to build a permanent circus. Designed by the architect Gustave Gridaine, the new Cirque Fernando opened on June 25, 1875.
  Because of its proximity to Montmartre, the circus attracted many artists (Renoir, Degas, Lautrec, among many others), who came to sketch the performers in action, which sometimes resulted in full paintings. They brought in their wake members of the Parisian "bohème", writers, journalists, actors, who generated publicity for the circus. Mrs. Fernando, who oversaw the box office, decided to let the painters work freely in the circus during rehearsals and watch the performances free of charge — a tradition that will remain under the subsequent management of Gerónimo Medrano.
  Fernando Beert eventually gave the management of his circus to his stepson, Louis, known as Louis Fernando (1851-?). Although Louis's artistic direction proved quite successful, notably with popular revues written for his star clown, Gerónimo Medrano (1849-1912), known as "Boum-Boum," his financial management of the family's enterprise was often erratic. He eventually led the circus to bankruptcy in October 1897. In the following December, Gerónimo Medrano bought back Fernando's lease, and renamed the circus Cirque Medrano.
caption: Toulouse-Lautrec's oil on canvas painting, Ecuyère au Cirque Fernando, 1887–88, shows Louis Fernando leading the horse of an equestrienne. Note the stylish audience that attended circus performances in 19th-century Paris. [2]
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