Artwork Page for Opéra (Rostral Column)

Details / Information for Opéra (Rostral Column)

Opéra (Rostral Column)

c. 1875

Charles Marville

(French, 1813–1879)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
albumen print from wet collodion negative
Measurements
Image: 37.7 x 26.7 cm (14 13/16 x 10 1/2 in.); Mounted: 35.4 x 26.7 cm (13 15/16 x 10 1/2 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the Karl B. Goldfield Trust 2006.6
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
230 Photography
Print
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Did You Know?

Paris is known as the City of Light because it was one of the first cities to install street lights—oil lamps in the 1660s.

Description

In the 1800s, gas lamps replaced the oil lights. When Napoleon III commissioned a new opera house in Paris in 1860, it was surrounded by a “Ring of Light,” including this column with three gas streetlights. The opera house became the setting for Gaston LeRoux’s 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera, which inspired the 1976 musical and 2004 film.
A vertically oriented albumen print depicts a tall rostral column centered in the foreground, featuring ornate lanterns and protruding metal ship prows. To the left, the decorated stone facade of the Opéra with sculptures and arched windows borders a stone balustrade. To the right, a wide street recedes past multi-story buildings with many windows and awnings. Cursive script at the bottom reads "Opéra (Colonne rostrale)."

Opéra (Rostral Column)

c. 1875

Charles Marville

(French, 1813–1879)
France, 19th century

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