Queen of Sheba space

The Queen of Sheba space you are approaching is a uniquely curated environment within the Musée Carnavalet, designed to house a spectacular ballroom mural from the nineteen-twenties. This monumental work, created by the Catalan artist José María Sert, originally decorated the private mansion of the de Wendel family in Paris. Sert painted the scene using a rare technique of sepia glaze on silver-leaf metal foil, which gives the walls of this room a shimmering, lacquered appearance. The mural depicts the legendary Queen of Sheba departing her kingdom atop a white elephant to meet King Solomon, capturing the grand, theatrical style that defined Parisian society during the interwar period. When the mansion was sold in the nineteen-eighties, this entire immersive installation was salvaged and reconstructed here so that the public could experience the room exactly as it was intended to be seen.