7. Manet was paying tribute to Europe's artistic heritage, borrowing his subject from the Concert Champêtrea painting by Titian attributed at the time to Giorgione (Louvre) and taking his inspiration for the composition of the central group from the Marcantonio Raimondi engraving after Raphael's Judgement of Paris. But the classical references were counterbalanced by Manet's boldness.
8. The presence of a nude woman among clothed men is justified neither by mythological nor allegorical precedents. This, and the contemporary dress, rendered the strange and almost unreal scene obscene in the eyes of the public of the day. Manet himself jokingly nicknamed his painting "la partiecarrée".
17. A bronze of Kali seated in intercourse with the corpse-image of Shiva. Rajasthan, 18th Century
18. Shows a close embrace between Vishnu and Lakshmi (based on the high crown on Vishnu's head). Sculpted in Khajuraho during the ChandellaDynasty (11th century). Lakshmi and Narayana
23. Sir Peter Paul Rubens(28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) A prolific seventeenth-century Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. Well-known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.
24. In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar, art collector, and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, King of Spain, and Charles I, King of England.
34. These infamous celebrations, notorious for their sexual and criminal character, got so out of hand that they were forbidden by the Roman Senate in 186 BCE.
35.
36. Cupid Roman god of love and the son of Venus. a small, winged boy, blindfolded, carrying bow and arrows. also portrayed as a young man with his beloved Psyche, with Venus or with a small group of winged infants (the Amoretti or Amorini). also known by another one of his Latin names, Amor and is equated with the Greek god Eros.
38. William-AdolpheBouguereau(November 30, 1825 – August 19, 1905) French academic painter. Bouguereau was a traditionalist whose realistic genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of Classical subjects with a heavy emphasis on the female human body. Although he created an idealized world, his almost photo-realistic style was popular with rich art patrons. Was very famous in his time but today his subject matter and technique receive relatively little attention compared to the popularity of the Impressionists.
42. The Venus of Urbino is a 1538 oil painting by the Italian master Titian. It depicts a nude young woman, identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings of a Renaissance palace. It hangs in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence.
43. Titan has domesticated Venus by moving her to an indoor setting, engaging her with the viewer, and making her sensuality explicit. Devoid of any classical or allegorical trappings, Venus displays none of the attributes of the goddess she is supposed to represent. The painting is unapologetically erotic.
44. In the near background is a dog, often a symbol of either fidelity or sexual profligacy; that the animal is asleep hints that the woman portrayed is unfaithful.
45. The painting was commissioned by the Duke of Urbino, possibly to celebrate his 1534 marriage. The maids in the background are shown rummaging through a similar chest, apparently in search of Venus's clothes. Curiously, given its overtly erotic content, the painting was intended as an instructive "model" for Giulia Varano, the Duke's extremely young bride.
51. The painting was inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino, which in turn refers to Giorgione's Sleeping Venus. Comparison is also made to Ingres' La grande Odalisque (1814). Unlike other artists, Manet did not depict a goddess or an odalisque but a high-class prostitute waiting for a client.
52. LA MAJA DESNUDA BY GOYA The classic work that most closely resembles Manet's in character is Francisco Goya’s La majadesnuda (c. 1800).
53. What shocked contemporary audiences was not Olympia's nudity, nor even the presence of her fully clothed maid, but her confrontational gaze and a number of details identifying her as a demi-mondaine or courtesan.
54. The orchid in her hair, her bracelet, pearl earrings and the oriental shawl on which she lies are symbols of wealth and sensuality. The black ribbon around her neck, in stark contrast with her pale flesh, and her cast-off slipper underline the voluptuous atmosphere.
55. Olympia Venus Whereas Titian's Venus delicately covers her sex, Olympia's hand firmly protects hers, as if to emphasize her independence and sexual dominance over men.
56. Manet replaced the little dog (symbol of fidelity) in Titian's painting with a black cat, which symbolized prostitution.
57. Olympia disdainfully ignores the flowers presented to her by her servant, probably a gift from a client. Some have suggested that she is looking in the direction of the door, as her client barges in unannounced.
58. The painting deviates from the academic canon in its style, characterized by broad, quick brushstrokes, studio lighting that eliminates mid-tones, large color surfaces and shallow depth. Instead of a smooth idealised nude, as in AlexandreCabanel'sLa naissance de Vénus(also painted in 1863), Manet painted a realwoman, whose nakedness is revealed in all its brutality by the harsh light. The model, VictorineMeurent, went on to become an accomplished painter in her own right.
60. ODALISQUE WITH A SLAVE by INGRES (842) Some pictorial precedents for a nude woman, attended by a black servant,
61. François-Léon Benouville(Paris, March 30, 1821 - February 16, 1859) ESTHER OR ODALISQUE Some pictorial precedents for a nude woman, attended by a black servant,
63. Also known as Une Odalisque Ingres' contemporaries considered the work to signify Ingres' break from Neoclassicism, indicating a shift toward exotic Romanticism.
64. especially noted for the elongated proportions and lack of anatomical realism. The work is housed in the Louvre, Paris. It attracted wide criticism when it was first shown.
65. Odalisque(Turkish: Odalık) A female slave in an Ottoman seraglio. An assistant or apprentice to the concubines and wives, and she might rise in status to become one of them. Most odalisques were part of the Imperial Harem, that is, the household of the sultan.
66. The word "odalisque" is French in form and originates from the Turkish odalık, meaning "chambermaid", from oda, "chamber" or "room". It can also be transliterated odahlic, odalisk, and odaliq.
Although these divine couples may sometimes spar with each other, in the end they are seen not only as loving, but as inseparable (one well-known saying is "Where Lakshmi is, there also is Narayana.“
The great Mochica culture existed on the Northern coast of Peru between I-VI centuries. They are especially famous for their knowledge of hydraulic engineering and their amazing mastery of the art of ceramics.
In their culture, sexuality applies to nature and is not bound to humans. For that reason, they believed that reproduction was an extension of the divine. And neither humans nor animals could be outside of it. Through the use of disproportion, the Mochicans magnified human genitals to accentuate the representation of sexuality.
The figure's pose is based on Giorgione's Sleeping Venus (c. 1510), which Titian completed.
