Yesterday, I showed you the stage of this magnificent auditorium at Opéra Garnier. While large and detailed, it might be the least impressive part of this room. Not that it was humdrum, far from it. However, compare it with the rest of the ornamentation, and you’ll understand.

In the first photo, you can see the gracefully curving gold and red of the back of the room. But notice the detail in the top right. You only see a hint of it in the first image. Now, look at the picture below.

In this image, you get the reveal of the epic dome and chandelier and its relationship to the seating and the stage. At a 24mm equivalent, I was just able to fit it in.

My lack of a super-wide lens necessitated multiple shots to cover the details. The dome is undoubtedly eye-catching; however, the artwork didn’t seem to be in keeping with the architecture — it looked decidedly modern. Sure enough, it was reimagined in 1964 by Marc Chagall, a notable artist.

The artwork was painted over a removable frame over the original. So it appears that the original design is available if needed, and matches what I would’ve expected given the architecture. I prefer Chagall’s more playful version, which softens the rather serious baroque auditorium.

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