Design for a Stage Set at the Opéra, Paris
1830–90
Medium
Pen and red, black, and brown ink, graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 18 1/8 x 10 13/16 in. (46 x 27.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Henry T. Curtis, 1953
Accession Number
53.668.22
Tags
Art Historical Context
Eugène Cicéri'sDesign for a Stage Set the Opéra, Paris captures the grandeur of 19th-century French theater during a golden age of Romantic opera. Created sometime between 1830 and1890, this drawing reflects Cicéri's role as a leading scenic artist at the Paris Opéra, he crafted immersive environments for by composers like Meyerbeer and Verdi. The Opéra, a cultural epicenter, demanded elaborate sets to evoke exotic locales or fantastical realms, blending architecture, lighting, and illusion to heighten dramatic tension. Rendered in pen and red, black, and brown ink with graphite on a modest 1...
About the Artist
Eugène Cicéri · 1813–1890
Étienne Eugène Cicéri (1813-1890) was a French painter, lithographer, and theatrical designer who became a notable figure in the Barbizon School movement. Born in Paris on January 27, 1813, into an illustrious artistic family, he was the son of renowned scenographer Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri and the nephew of painter Eugène Isabey. Cicéri occupies an important position in 19th-century French land...