«Le plus grand théâtre de la République, la première réputation dans l’Europe». Ignazio Degotti (1758-1824) behind the stage of the Paris Opéra

This article explores the role, the vision, and the artistic expectations of the Italian stage designer Ignazio Degotti (1758-1824). With a few career interruptions, Degotti was the principal stage designer of the Théâtre de l’Opéra from 1795 to 1822. He approached his art as a fine and skilled connoisseur of architecture, perspective, decoration, and botany. Convinced that much of the effect of the opera resided in the visual, Degotti gave himself a special status of an artistic interlocutor among other opera creators. His persona, however, rarely fit the controlling requirements of theatre administration. Frustrating requests urged him to produce grandeur on stage, but under controlled timelines and budgets. Meanwhile, outside the Opéra, Degotti worked with Jacques-Louis David, organising the scenography of the Coronation’s painting; his portrait stands right next to that of Napoleon’s First Painter. It is when Degotti eluded the daily fights and controls of the Opéra and meshed his talents with art-academy relationships that he settled comfortably into his artistic role. Through unpublished archival material, this paper brings to the foreground the figure of Degotti, promoting his practice as an account very much integrated into the visual and cultural histories of his time.