Editing Édouard Manet (section)

===''Olympia''===
{{Main|Olympia (Manet)}}
[[File:Edouard Manet - Olympia - Google Art Project 3.jpg|thumb|''[[Olympia (Manet)|Olympia]]'', 1863–65, [[oil on canvas]], [[Musée d'Orsay]]]]
As he had in ''Luncheon on the Grass'', Manet again paraphrased a respected work by a Renaissance artist in the painting ''[[Olympia (Manet)|Olympia]]'' (1863), a nude portrayed in a style reminiscent of early studio photographs, but whose pose was based on [[Titian]]'s ''[[Venus of Urbino]]'' (1538). The painting is also reminiscent of [[Francisco Goya]]'s painting ''[[The Nude Maja]]'' (1800).

Manet embarked on the canvas after being challenged to give the Salon a nude painting to display.<!-- by whom? --> His uniquely frank depiction of a self-assured [[prostitute]] was accepted by the Paris Salon in 1865, where it created a scandal. According to [[Antonin Proust]], "only the precautions taken by the administration prevented the painting being punctured and torn" by offended viewers.{{sfn|Néret|2003|p=22}} The painting was controversial partly because the nude is wearing some small items of clothing such as an [[orchid]] in her hair, a bracelet, a ribbon around her neck, and mule slippers, all of which accentuated her nakedness, sexuality, and comfortable [[courtesan]] lifestyle. The orchid, upswept hair, [[black cat]], and bouquet of flowers were all recognized symbols of sexuality at the time. This modern Venus' body is thin, counter to prevailing standards; the painting's lack of idealism rankled viewers. The painting's flatness, inspired by [[Ukiyo-e|Japanese wood block]] art, serves to make the nude more human and less voluptuous. A fully dressed black servant is featured, exploiting the then-current theory that black people were hyper-sexed.{{sfn|King|2006}} That she is wearing the clothing of a servant to a courtesan here furthers the sexual tension of the piece.

Olympia's body as well as her gaze is unabashedly confrontational. She defiantly looks out as her servant offers flowers from one of her male suitors. Although her hand rests on her leg, hiding her pubic area, the reference to traditional female virtue is ironic; a notion of modesty is notoriously absent in this work. A contemporary critic denounced Olympia's "shamelessly flexed" left hand, which seemed to him a mockery of the relaxed, shielding hand of Titian's Venus.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Dianne|title=Seduction and theory: readings of gender, representation, and rhetoric|publisher=University of Illinois Press|date=1989|page=19|isbn=0252060636}}</ref> Likewise, the alert black cat at the foot of the bed strikes a sexually rebellious note in contrast to that of the sleeping dog in Titian's portrayal of the goddess in his ''Venus of Urbino''.

''Olympia'' was the subject of caricatures in the popular press, but was championed by the French avant-garde community, and the painting's significance was appreciated by artists such as [[Gustave Courbet]], [[Paul Cézanne]], [[Claude Monet]], and later [[Paul Gauguin]].

As with ''Luncheon on the Grass'', the painting raised the issue of prostitution within contemporary France and the roles of women within society.{{sfn|King|2006}}