Manet's Olympia

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Did Manet's Olympia break with any tradition, of the female nude, in painting? Olympia (Figure 1), one of the many paintings by Édouard Manet, the nineteenth century painter, attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists and art lovers every year from around the world. It inspires artists and delights everyday people, but it has not always been this way. At the 1865 Paris Salon it raised many eyebrows, caused scandal and brought a horrible wave of criticism to the artist. To understand this huge outcry, first we have to examine the tradition of the female nude in painting throughout history. We barely meet any female nude themed paintings before the Renaissance (or we barely have any that survived). Artists started to depict female nudes in …show more content…

The model of the painting is Victorine Meurent, the same woman who modelled for the Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and some other paintings from different artists at the time. She was an artist herself, from a working-class background and supposedly a prostitute. As Olympia was an often used name among prostitutes in 19th century France, the title of the artwork is a strong hint too, just like the accessories she wears in the painting ( the silk slipper, the black ribbon, the bracelets, the earrings and the hair adornment). This very open portrayal of a courtesan was highly unacceptable and shocking, especially because a high-class lady should not have seen a naked body as it ruined her reputation. We can not forget about the maid and the cat. The black servant (who proves that we are more likely talking about a courtesan, not a prostitute) holds a bouquet, supposedly from a male visitor, and the gaze of Olympia suggests that this visitor is the viewer of the painting. The Venus-paintings were usually accompanied by a lapdog, but the arched back and upright tail of Manet’s black cat gives the viewer some concern. Black cats were usually associated with witchcraft and demons at that

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