Nel silenzio di Manet

The absence of instruments and players in the famous “Musique aux Tuileries” (1862) of Édouard Manet, where he represents himself and his own entourage, remains an unsolved problem. On the one hand, the article offers a possible solution of this oddness considering the lack of interest on music in the context of the repertoire. On the other hand, from an aesthetic point of view, the exclusion of musicians from the scene could be explained through the fall of the “aura”. Whatever it may be, the rejection of music marks a separation between the primitive concept of mass music, i.e., the classical repertoire played at the garden of Tuileries, and the future avant-garde.