Capital for the Paris Opera

This image features sculptural decoration of the Paris Opera, designed by Charles Garnier. The Paris Opera is one of the most opulent monuments of France’s Second Empire (1852–1870), a period of rapid urban growth. The accomplished photographer Louis-Emile Durandelle was hired to meticulously photograph every phase of construction and each detail of the building over a 10-year period. There is a disarming intimacy to Durandelle’s approach; he placed sculptural elements on a stool against a cloth backdrop—according each fanciful and graceful design an individual distinction before they became part of the overall decoration of the finished building. These photographs were published together as "Le Nouvel Opéra de Paris" in 1876.