Ceilings of the Palais Garnier 50€ 1/4oz Gold Coin - Proof quality yeardate 2025

In 2025, the Palais Garnier celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of its architect, Charles Garnier, as well as the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the Paris Opera.
To mark the occasion, Monnaie de Paris pays tribute to the Palais, its history and especially that of the iconic ceiling in the auditorium.

The dome overlooking the main auditorium of the Palais Garnier features two superimposed works.
The one by Marc Chagall, created in 1964 at the request of André Malraux, has retained all its freshness and topicality for 60 years. With his composition of animated forms and luminous colours, dedicated to the 14 composers, the artist's universal vision complements the views of those involved and the spectators, past and present, of the opera, the dance and the architecture of the building.

Beneath Chagall's ceiling is a copper painting commissioned by Garnier from Jules-Eugène Lenepveu: Les Muses et les heures du jour et de la nuit. This classic masterpiece, painted in 1872, is a remarkable example of 19th-century academic art, with its scenes rich in mythological and temporal symbols, reflecting the aesthetic and cultural ambitions of the time.

With this collection, Monnaie de Paris is making these two heritage pieces accessible and celebrates the timelessness of these two artists.
 

On the obverse of this coin is Marc Chagall's fresco for the ceiling of the main auditorium of the Garnier opera house, commissioned by André Malraux and inaugurated in 1964. The central medallion on the coin is not usually visible to visitors to the Palais Garnier, as it is hidden by the great chandelier that lights up the auditorium.

The reverse depicts Jules-Eugène Lenepveu's 1872 work Les Muses et les heures du jour et de la nuit. The face value of the coin and the name "République Française" (French Republic) appear in the centre of the composition, in the style and position of the grille that once supported the large chandelier. 

For each composition, the décor surrounding the work is a reproduction of the mouldings that adorn the real ceiling. The name of each artist and the year in which the work was presented are inscribed on these ornaments.