Restoration of the Grand Foyer

Before the curtain went up and during the interval, spectators strolled around the newly renovated grandiose Grand Foyer which had been closed to the public since February, 2003. Modelled on the Grand Théatre de Bordeaux and the elegant French and Italian residencies of the 17th and 18th centuries the palace, majestic and opulent has always been a place to see and be seen in.

Restoration work, which cost the Direction de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine some 5, 8 Million Euros, has concentrated on the ceiling paintings by Paul Baudry, close friend of Charles Garnier who designed the "Palais Garnier" as it is affectionately called, inaugurated in 1875.

Baudry, who had studied with Garnier at the Villa Medicis in Rome, managed to persuade the architect to give him more ceiling space than was planned, and created what became his life's masterpiece, famous as much for the fact that it was the last painted ceiling in Paris as much as for the fact it took ten years to complete. He was inspired by music, for he was himself a gifted violin player, as well as by the Italian Renaissance painters, in particular, by Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

Over the great bay windows, ten medallions symbolise the music of ten different countries, English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish on one side, and Persian, Egyptian, Grecian, Roman and Barbaric along the other, while to the North and South, lavishly decorated panels illustrate scenes from mythology and the Bible. The ceiling itself is an allegory to the glory of music, where Melody and Harmony are crowned by Glory and Poetry

Refurbishment was also carried out in the two small salons, the Salon de la Lune, and the Salon du Soleil, where much of the woodwork had became darkened with age. All the woodwork in gold has been repainted as it was at the time, and now one can see the different usage of white gold, yellow gold, green gold, and in some places, red gold. Most astonishing of all is the fact that all the curtains and furnishing textiles have been replaced by identical fire resistant materials by the very firm in Lyon which had made the originals in the late 1860's. They had kept records of the order and had stored away samples of the exact fabrics.

Now everything has been restored to its former glory.

Patricia Boccadoro

The Grand Foyer and the salons de la Lune and du Soleil are open to the general public every day (except January 1st and May 1st ) from 10hr - 18hr. For further information telephone (33) 01 41 10 08 10