the orchestra of the opera edgar degasWhen he painted this painting, Edgard Degas knew the Paris Opera well. But one would be mistaken if one thought that this painting was a realistic representation of the orchestra of the Paris Opera in 1870. In addition to the fact that several of the figures in the painting were not instrumentalists, Degas, in order to emphasize his friend, the bassoonist Dsir Dihau, has placed him in the front row, whereas the bassoon was usually placed behind the