Why it matters
Manet's last major work shows a barmaid at the Folies-Bergère in front of a mirror whose reflection seems impossible. Critics accused him of not understanding perspective, until a reconstruction in 2000 proved the scene could be real, with the viewer standing off to one side.
Did you know?
- It was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1882.
- It first belonged to the composer Emmanuel Chabrier, who hung it over his piano.
- The mirror is often compared with the one in Velázquez's Las Meninas.
Based on the Wikipedia article A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (CC BY-SA 4.0).
