NIKONCOOLPIX S9300 22mm
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Finally, after so many nods, we are in the Grand Foyer. This magnificent room is not only the jewel of Palais Garnier itself, it is one of the most exquisite salons in the whole of France. The vast, splendid hall was designed for the crème de la crème of the Second Empire to stroll the 150 m of its length during the intermissions, greeting the acquaintances and admiring themselves in the towering mirrors. When I say "the crème de la crème of the society", you need to understand that by the rules of that time, it only meant to be men. Women were supposed to stay confined in their boxes, even during the intermissions. But in case of Opéra Garnier, it so happened that on the inaugural night, the Queen of Spain wished to see the Grand Foyer and strolled along it with all her ladies-in-waiting. So, the taboo was broken, and the Grand Foyer was open for all from day one.And, speaking of the mirrors, in which the sauntering public could admire themselves. On one side, the Grand Foyer opens onto the loggia - an open outside gallery, which runs along the facade. The mirrors are strategically placed on the other side to reflect the windows, and so, to visually extend the foyer′s already impressive size (18 m high, 154 m long and 13 m wide). As you can see, the Grand Foyer is simply drenched in gold leaf and crammed with gigantic chandeliers. All of this was specifically designed by Garnier to make the hall look like a royal palace in the gilded age (pun intended) of Louis XIV. ⇨ ⇨ In fact, in designing this space, Garnier drew his inspiration from the similar halls in the actual royal palaces of Fontainebleau, Louvre, and Versailles. The glitz you see today, though, is pretty new - the Grand Foyer was thoroughly restored in 2004. It was the fist restoration after a fire in 1928, in which the golden curtains and some other elements of the decor perished. So, almost for a century, the Grand Foyer was not its usual self, so to speak. Notice the two of the most prominent elements of the decor - the lyre (above the windows here, but they are everywhere, even on the door handles, trust me), and the bas-relief faces (above the round panels with playing cherubs). ⇨ ⇨ These are all the same face, that of Apollo, the Greek god of music and arts (among other various things). He is the one who is usually holding a lyre (like on the roof of this very building). ⇨ ⇨ Well, it was supposed to be Apollo′s face all over, but two of the faces are actually Charles Garnier himself. The sculptors snuck them in unbeknownst to the architect. ⇨⇨ I don′t know why they bothered. There is a whole proper bust of Garnier in middle of the room, the copy of his bust from the facade, where he was conferred with this honour along with the great composers.The ceiling, painted by Paul Baudry, like everything in the opera house, is all about the music and the theatre. It consists of separate canvases, each of them representing a specific related story or a character.For example, there are 8 canvases representing the Muses from the Greek mythology (those narrow panels on the sides with a single female figure in each, between the bigger panels with scenes). However, the Greeks had come up with 9 muses altogether, but because of lack of room, one of them had to go. ⇨ ⇨ It was decided that it should be Polyhymnia, the Muse of hymns and eloquence, who had to be sacrificed. Mostly because she was already painted elsewhere in the Grand Foyer. [Note the oval panel at the very top of the photograph, we′ll talk about it later].Now, let′s have a closer look at the ceiling. The big central panel represents Music, and is designed to look like an opening in the roof, through which we see some brightly-clad figures frolicking in the air. It is hard to say, who they are, since we are practically looking up their robes, rather than in their faces.[This picture is a copy of the previous one, turned 180 degrees to better see the upside-down figures]. The oval panel next to the main one depicts the genre of Tragedy. There is another similar panel on the other end, which represents Comedy. (We saw it in one of the previous pictures, where I asked you to notice it). At the each end of the Grand Foyer, there is a small octagonal salon with a fireplace. The fireplaces themselves didn′t make the cut in my pictures (literally), since the place was full of people, and they were blocking the view of the fireplaces anyway. ⇨ ⇨ Just so you know, the gilded female figures and the black vase are standing on the mantelpiece. These end salons are also heavily adorned with the Greek mythology motifs. In this one, on the eastern end of the hall, the oval ceiling painting is called "The Zodiac". The Greek god of Sun Helios is straddling over the sign of Leo, depicted on the endless (we can assume) strip, obviously representing the Zodiac cycle. The lower painting, right above the fireplace, is called "Apollo Receiving the Lyre". This weird fixation with Apollo and his lyre again...The elaborate bases of the columns throughout the Grand Foyer, up close.Speaking of fixation on Apollo and his lyre. The painting on the other end of the Grand Foyer, which is called "La musique dramatique" ("The Drama Music"), suspiciously looks like another picture of the Greek god and his instrument.It was Christmas when I was at Opéra Garnier. Like, exactly Christmas Day - December 25th!And before we leave the Grand Foyer, a few pics of the views out of the windows. This one shows the loggia outside. View along Avenue de l′Opéra, with the high roof of the Louvre at its bottom. Remember that objective for the new opera house - a straight and short ride from the palace, to ensure the Emperor′s safety? There you go.Press ESC to exit
