Explanatory setup for the Paris Opera ceiling

As part of the exhibition Chagall at work. An exceptional loan to the museum
A two-part exhibition from February 7 to September 21, 2026 at the Musée national Marc Chagall.

1. Bizet, Carmen.
Against a red background, Carmen and the bullfighter Escamillo appear in the arena, while the bull, placed outside on a yellow background, plays the guitar instead of fighting.

2. Verdi.
Chagall depicts Verdi with a beard, holding the list of his works in his hands and surrounded by the heroines of his operas, on a flat yellow background.

3. Beethoven, Fidelio.
Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, inspires this scene. Leonore, in green, rushes towards a blue horseman. The heroine disguised herself as a man named Fidelio to free her husband Florestan. Behind her, a pleading crowd recalls the famous chorus of prisoners from this opera.

4. Gluck, Orpheus and Eurydice.
Eurydice plays the lyre, Orpheus's instrument, and receives a bouquet of flowers held by an angel.

5. Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov.
A red figure of Fame with the head of a man and a bird contrasts with the blue of the stage. Boris Godunov was first performed at the Palais Garnier by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1908. Chagall depicts the coronation scene: Tsar Boris is seated on his throne. To his left, the people sing “Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich!” Above, the chaotic architecture of the city of Moscow reflects the political situation described in the opera.

6. Mozart, The Magic Flute.
Mozart's smiling angel provides a cheerful and serene counterpart to the red Renown. In this blue sky, a bird plays the flute, evoking the famous opera and referring to the bird catcher Papageno. In 1965-1966, Chagall designed the sets and costumes for The Magic Flute, which was performed in February 1967 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

7. Wagner, Tristan and Isolde.
Symbolized by the green color, love is personified here by Tristan and Isolde, Wagner's work. The couple is languidly entwined. Isolde's dress ends in rushing water, evoking the love that seized the couple while they were on Tristan's boat. Above them, the Arc de Triomphe, illuminated in the red of passion, and the Place de la Concorde reestablish Paris as the city of love.

8. Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette.
By honoring Wagner and associating him with Berlioz, Chagall pictorially expresses Franco-German reconciliation and makes up for the absence of Wagner's bust on the façade of the Palais Garnier. 
Like Tristan and Isolde, Romeo and Juliet are depicted in each other's arms, symbolizing eternal love. The double face in the medallion evokes funerary art and recalls the tragic end of the lovers.

9. Rameau.
On the façade of the Palais Garnier, illuminated in passionate red, Carpeaux's sculpted group La Danse, in yellow, takes on monumental proportions. Chagall follows in the footsteps of the architect and sculptor. The combination of white, red, and blue evokes his love of France and French music. Here, he pays tribute to Rameau, one of the greatest composers of the 18th century and one of the fathers of French opera.

10. Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande.
In a predominantly blue palette, Chagall depicts Mélisande combing her hair under the gaze of Pelléas, one of the most sensual scenes in the opera in which Pelléas ends up entangled in his beloved's hair. Pelléas takes on the features of Malraux, thus recalling the commission of this work to Chagall.

11. Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé.
In 1958, Chagall created the sets and costumes for Daphnis and Chloe, choreographed by Georges Skibine, at the Opéra Garnier. This work was performed again at the inauguration of the ceiling in 1964. Against a red background, the painter revisits elements of the stage curtain he designed for the show: Daphnis and Chloe depicted in mirror image, the Greek temple overlooking the action on the hill, and sheep evoking the pastoral world.

12. Stravinsky, The Firebird.
A gigantic Eiffel Tower separates The Firebird from Daphnis and Chloe, paying homage to Paris. Chagall designed the costumes and sets for The Firebird in 1945 and 1949 for the Ballet Theatre in New York. Here, he presents a mosaic of the opera's main episodes, including the marriage of Ivan and Tsarevna, which ends the ballet. The magical bird dominates the red-tinged composition, alongside a self-portrait of the artist himself.

13. Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake.
Chagall focuses on the heroine, Odette, who, as a result of a spell, is a swan by day and a woman by night, depicting her as a hybrid character, half woman, half animal, holding a bouquet in her hand.

14. Adam, Giselle.
Against a yellow background, the scene features dancers in brightly colored costumes, evoking medieval Thuringia and the harvest festivals of the first act. She learns that the man she loves is already engaged, causing her to lose her mind and die. The moon and the dancers in front of the cypress tree recall the brides who died before their wedding day and who dance in the moonlight.