Orchestra of the Opera by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: The Orchestra of the Opera

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: ca. 1870

Geography: Country of Origin France

Culture: French

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 22 5/16 × 18 1/8 in. (56.6 × 46 cm)
Framed: 30 11/16 × 27 3/16 in. (78 × 69 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Musée d'Orsay, Paris (RF 2417)


Rather than highlighting the ballet performance onstage, Degas focused his attention on the orchestra pit below. He intended the painting to be a portrait of the bassoonist at center, Désiré Dihau, who plays in an ensemble composed of recognizable colleagues and friends of the artist. The composer Emmanuel Chabrier, who performed at the Manets’ musical soirées, appears in the box in the upper left.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/845050