NIKONCOOLPIX S9300 22mm
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Now, let′s have a closer look at the exterior of Palais Garnier. There is a lot to take in. Garnier′s main principle for his new architectural style was - not a single inch of the surface unadorned. It took no less than 14 painters, mosaicists, and 73(!) sculptors to fulfill the architect′s pledge. Let′s start from the top. The statue of Apollo, holding a golden lyre, in the company of allegories of Poetry and Music (go to ⓘ and click on "View original" to better see him), adorns the crest of the conical roof above the stage. [In this shot, the roof is being repaired and is covered with a white tent]. In front of Apollo, the shallow green dome (which is covered with real copper, that′s why it′s green) sits above the auditorium below. The famous Chagall′s painting of the Opera′s ceiling is on the inner side of this dome. We will see it in the next galleries. Also, note the two golden sculptural groups on the two corners of the roof. ⇨⇨ The both groups are gilded with real gold leaf, and are 7.5 metres high. The one on the left (when facing the building) is called "L′Harmonie" ("Harmony"). As in musical harmony, not matrimonial. The other one is "La Poésie" ("Poetry"). The bas-relief in the pediment below represents Sculpture and Painting. Zoom into the picture and you will see these words written on the shield in the centre. You might ask, why under the frieze it says "Lyric Poetry" then? Because it′s not about what′s on the frieze, it′s about the whole building. ⇨⇨ On the opposite side, under the frieze representing Architecture and Industry (hard to see here, but trust me), it says "Choregraphie". These are the two major forms of art performed at the theatre - Choregraphie (as in "expressing feelings through the dance", i.e., the ballet) and Poésie Lyrique, which in this case means "expressing feelings through song", i.e., the opera. And in the middle of the building we see "Académie Nationale de Musique", like a store sign. Originally, it was "Académie Impériale de Musique", which was the name of the opera company operating the theatre. After Napoléon III have been deposed, the company name was changed to "Théâtre de l′Opéra" (and now it′s called "Opéra National de Paris"), but it was deemed too expensive to change the whole sign, so they changed just 6 letters - from "Impériale" to "Nationale".What they decided NOT to remove, either due to the cost, or not to damage the artistic integrity of the facade, are the medallions with "N" and "E" on them, right below the string of the golden Greek theatre masks. The "N" in the medallions stands for Napoléon, and "E" - for his wife Eugénie. These imperialistic adornments the newly-minted Republic had to swallow.Continuing our journey down the facade, we come to this interesting element of décor - gilded bronze busts of great composers, built into the wall. From left to right, they include Rossini, Auber, Beethoven, Mozart, Spontini, Meyerbeer, and Halévy.The bust with its back to us in this picture (around the corner from Rossini) is a librettist Eugène Scribe. There is a bust of another librettist, Philippe Quinault, on the opposite side of the facade. Apparently, librettists were a big deal back then, in those barbaric pre-Wikipedia times. [This shot shows the minute intricacies of the ornamentations and adornments of Palais Garnier′s facade].Moving further down, under the balconies of the loggia (an open colonnaded gallery above the entrance), we see some more composers, this time in the form of bas-relief medallions. Each of those accompanied by an allegory, representing a specific form of the performing arts. There are 4 composer medallions altogether - Bach, Pergolesi, Haydn, Cimarosa. I am assuming, these are supposed to be less prominent composers than the ones with the busts. Ok, I get Pergolesi and Cimarosa, but how come Bach and Haydn are less important than, say, Spontini and Meyerbeer? Reeks of cronyism, if you ask me.But at least, they get their own allegories. Bach′s is "The Idyll" (as in a short poem, usually about frolicking in the flowery meadows. She even holds the flowers, see?)Pergolesi got "The Cantata" (a very grandiloquent singing performance, with an orchestra and even a choir, sort of a short opera). Haydn gets the simplest, and, if you ask me, most touching allegory - "The Song".Cimarosa′s allegory is "The Drama". See, how dejected she looks? That′s real acting for you, right there.We are far from done with the allegories. There are 4 more of them, two on each end of the facade. These two are (from left to right) "Poetry" and "Instrumental Music". But these are boring. Let′s move to the good ones. ⇨ ⇨ Here we are. "The Dance" and "Lyrical Drama". Look at "The Dance". Quite a sensuous and provocative piece, isn′t it?⇨ No wonder it elicited a lot of discontent from the puritanic Parisians (yeah, I chuckled at this one myself). Once, a disgruntled gentleman smashed a bottle of ink on the naked thigh of one of the female figures, probably, right where the bird now sits. Prigs.Around the corner, on the left side of the theatre, we see this annex, called "Pavillon de l′Empereur" ("The Emperor′s Pavilion") and designed as his private entrance. A curved ramp leads up right into the building, so that the sovereign could safely step out of his carriage into his personal suite, directly connected with the royal box. The irony is, as I already mentioned, Napoléon III never got to use these fancy new digs. The annex now houses Paris Opera′s library and museum.On the opposite side of the building (the east side) there is a matching annex called "Pavillon des Abonnés" ("Pavilion of Subscribers", as in season ticket holders). Back in the day, they were crème de la crème of the society, who required preferential treatment. Like the Emperor, they also had a covered access to the building right in their carriages.And, to finish things off, just a couple of images of the side walls of the theatre, illustrating Garnier′s rule - not a single inch of surface unadorned.Press ESC to exit
