Ornamental Scupture

StatusReference work · Not for sale

Held byCleveland Museum of Art

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Napoleon III commissioned a new opera house that was adorned with lavishly decorated facades and surfaces inside and out, like this sculptural molding that topped doors in the building’s side galleries. Louis-Émile Durandelle photographed it while still in the workshop; he blacked out the background in the negative. The opera house became the setting for Gaston LeRoux’s 1910 novel <em>The Phantom of the Opera</em>, which inspired the 1976 musical and 2004 film.

Artist / Maker	Louis-Émile Durandelle
Date	c. 1865–72
Culture / Origin	France, 19th century
Medium	albumen print from wet collodion negative
Dimensions	Image: 28.1 x 38.1 cm (11 1/16 x 15 in.)
Department	Photography
Type	Photograph

About the Artist

Louis-Émile Durandelle French, 1839-1917 Born in Verdun, Louis-Émile Durandelle is known for his portrayal of important construction projects that helped Paris achieve its unique mix of ancient and modern architecture during the second half of the 19th century. In partnership with photographer Hyacinthe César Delmaet (1828-1862), or perhaps with his wife Clémence Jacob Delmaet, whom Durandelle married after Delmaet's death, he recorded the construction and details of some of the city's great new building projects -- including the Sacre Coeur,… Full biography →

Provenance & Source

Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.

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