A naked woman reclines on a bed and stares boldly out at us; a Black maid brings a bouquet from a client, and a black cat arches its back at the foot of the bed. Manet borrowed the composition of a Renaissance masterpiece to paint a Parisian courtesan. Shown at the Salon of 1865, it caused one of the greatest art scandals of the nineteenth century.
Key facts
- Artist
- Édouard Manet1832–1883 · French
- Date
- 1863
- Period
- Realism1840–1880
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 130.5 × 190 cm
- Location
- Musée d'Orsay Paris, France
Actual size
Compared with an adult 170 cm tall
Palette
#201D19#CCC4AB#B5AC93#9A8D71#DFDDCBBackground
The composition comes directly from Titian's Venus of Urbino. But where Titian painted a goddess, Manet painted a modern Parisian prostitute; “Olympia” was a name commonly used by courtesans at the time.
The model was Victorine Meurent, who also appears in Manet's Luncheon on the Grass; she later became a painter herself and exhibited at the Salon. The maid was modelled by a Black woman named Laure.
Painted in 1863, it was not shown at the Salon until two years later. Visitors were outraged; some tried to strike it with umbrellas, guards were posted, and it was eventually rehung high out of reach.
Technique & composition
Manet painted the body in broad, flat areas with almost none of the traditional modelling, so it looks pale and flat, like a cut-out. Critics sneered that her skin was corpse-like, yet this very flatness pointed the way for modern painting.
The picture is built on strong contrasts: white sheets and skin on the left, dark background, maid and on the right. Contours are crisp and hard, the handling direct, without academic polish.
Details
Symbolism
The direct gaze
Traditional nude goddesses look away or gaze demurely; stares coolly at the viewer as if sizing up a client. She places the viewer in the role of a customer, which deeply offended male visitors of the time.
A cat instead of a dog
In Titian's painting a little dog sleeps at Venus's feet, a symbol of fidelity. Manet replaced it with a black cat arching its back and raising its tail; in France at the time black cats were associated with sexuality and witchcraft.
The bouquet and accessories
is a gift from a client. The orchid in her hair, the black ribbon at her throat, the gold bracelet and the dangling slipper all hint at her profession and the transaction taking place.
Stories
- Did you know?
In 1890 Monet organised a subscription to buy the painting from Manet's widow and give it to the French state, so that it would not leave France. It went first to the Musée du Luxembourg and entered the Louvre in 1907.
- Did you know?
Recent research and exhibitions have turned attention to Laure, the Black model for the maid, whose identity was long overlooked in art history.
Legacy
Olympia is regarded as one of the starting points of modern art: it challenges classical values with a classical composition, replaces illusionism with flat colour, and confronts the realities of contemporary society. Cézanne, Gauguin and Picasso all copied or responded to it.
