A popular later tableau, A Midnight Mass of St Etienne-du-Mont, was described in detail by mystified eye-witness: "At first it is daylight; we see the nave with its chairs; little by little the light wanes and the candles are lighted. At the back of the choir the church is illuminated, and the congregation arriving take their places in front of the chairs, not suddenly, as if the scenes were shifted, but gradually. The midnight mass begins. In this reverent stillness the organ peals out from under the distant vaults. Then the daylight slowly returns, the congregation disperses, the candles are extinguished and the church with its chairs appears as at the beginning. This was magic!"
