The Sorbonne

Major partners of the Paris Opera’s 350th anniversary

Major partners of
the Paris Opera’s 350th anniversary

A suivre:

Abbé Perrin (Director of...

If there is one workshop that can stir the imagination at the Opera, it would be the painting studio and its Sorbonne. The name is evocative of knowledge and great thinkers and it naturally spurs us to think of the artists’ savoir-faire and their command of colour… The reality, though, is quite different. Indispensable in any place where varnishes and solvents are handled, the Sorbonne is an industrial extractor—or a ventilation and extraction booth—which allows these materials to be used safely. It was recently removed as nowadays, the painters and set designers use little if any paint with solvents, which means that all that is now required is basic protective equipment. Even so, if the extractor has gone, the space where the various paints and paintbrushes are stored still bears its name. As a result, you can still go to the Sorbonne without leaving the Opéra!