Introduction: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? The Art of the Ephemeral in Eighteenth-Century France

The etymology of the word ephemeral, ephēmeros, denotes something transient, fleeting, not long-lasting.1 In the arts, I argue that this notion can be applied to tangible requirements created to be experienced, rather than simply consumed (e.g. stage settings, symbols, and scents used during public celebrations); unique even when replicated with the same modalities (e.g. fireworks and of performances), and objects which represent the material arrangements of a more complex live-experience (e.g. dance costumes as indicators of movement).