Ambroise Thomas assistant at a rehearsal of Francoise de Rimini 1896

Here, Toulouse-Lautrec captures a rehearsal of Ambroise Thomas’s opera, Francoise de Rimini, with lithographic crayon and spatter on paper. At the podium, the conductor raises his arm, a gesture that dates back to ancient oratory, commanding attention and directing the flow of energy and emotion. This motif of the raised arm appears across epochs, from Roman emperors to Renaissance depictions of God creating Adam, each time signifying power and control. Look how the singer holds his sheet music, reminiscent of ancient scrolls containing sacred texts. The act of reading, of interpreting symbols, carries its own weight. In this depiction, we sense the fervor of artistic creation and the psychological intensity inherent in bringing stories to life. The raised arm, the held text—gestures pregnant with meaning, revealing the human desire to impose order on the chaos of existence. As the conductor's arm falls, the sounds of the orchestra emerge, and the performance begins, yet another cycle of human expression.