A Night at the Opera – Autumn 1846

We see an elegant couple as they leave their box at the Paris Opera. The woman wears a long yellow silk gown, with a three-quarter length blue silk cloak over it. The cloak is trimmed along the edges with a wide band of scrolled trimming, and is tied at the neck with a wide blue ribbon bow. She wears a small white feathered hat and carries a white handkerchief in her white gloved hand. Her dark hair is styled in shoulder-length, face-framing curls. She holds the arm of her escort who wears evening dress. His suit has narrow black trousers and a black tailcoat, over a white shirt and a white waistcoat, with a black cravat. Draped over his arm is a black overcoat. He wears black shoes, a black top hat, and carries a cane. Around his neck he wears a square quizzing glass monocle on a chain. In the style of Louis-Philippe’s July Monarchy, the man wears long sideburns, a mustache, and a small goatee. In the background we see a sketch of neoclassical columns and a view through the open door of their opera box revealing the gilt and red velvet draperies of the opera house of Paris. Two gentlemen and a lady are visible in another box.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges