You went to show off your wealth to display your power to be aroused. In late 19th century French society, you did not go to the opera, or even the dance hall, to view the mastery and grace of the world’s next greatest artists. 19th century Paris: opera was the place to see and be seen Observed through this lens, it is easy to view Garnier’s Palais Opéra as a ‘sign’ of its time. It would be the place for the rich and powerful to see and be seen in keeping with France’s late 19th century, post-revolutionary, industrialized society. Young Garnier won the bid, clearly willing to gratify these desires: His proposed opera house would mount spectacle within spectacle. The new Opéra would reflect his neo-Baroque tastes as well as serve the needs of the bourgeoisie who supported him. It was then that Napoleon III resolved to build Paris a new opera house as magnificent as a palace, with a well-guarded private entrance for him and his family. He escaped unscathed, though his horses, eight innocent bystanders, and over a hundred wounded were not so lucky. The old Paris opera house, located in a teeming, insalubrious part of the city on the narrow rue Le Peletier, had been the site of an 1858 assassination attempt on the emperor’s life. Launched under the auspices of Emperor Napoleon III and his civic planner, Baron Haussmann, the contest attracted 171 proposals and was part of the duo’s plans to remake their capital. In 1860 a little-known 35-year-old architect by the name of Charles Garnier won the competition to build Paris a new opera house. 1860: Napoleon III’s competition to design a palatial new Paris opera house
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