L'Opéra has a genuinely dramatic backstory: it's tied to one of the most controversial cultural commissions in French history. The ceiling Chagall painted for the Palais Garnier was created in secret, under military protection, amid virulent antisemitic criticism. Malraux staked his entire cultural ministry on it. The 1974 Mourlot lithograph is a direct reference to that ceiling — printed at the legendary Mourlot workshop where Chagall worked for decades.