A contemporary body
Manet presents Olympia as a contemporary woman under harsh light. Her direct gaze contributed to the provocation felt by viewers at the time.
GajimaruClassics.Viewing preferencesShown as painted
Preferences stay on this device. Reveal a painting without changing them.
Olympia
Édouard Manet · 1863
painting
NudityRead the context
Look closer
Select a detail to locate it.
Manet used Titian’s reclining Venus as a starting point for Olympia, painted in 1863 with Victorine Meurent as the model. The contemporary figure’s unidealised treatment provoked a scandal at the Salon of 1865.
Details
Olympia meets the viewer’s gaze. Beside her, a woman presents flowers; a black cat appears at the bed’s edge. The direct light gives the body a frank presence that helps explain its reception.
In its time
1863
Books from this period
Where it hangs
Musée d'Orsay
In context
Two women in the frame
Victorine Meurent, one of Manet's favoured models, posed as Olympia. A maid presents her with a bouquet of flowers, and a black cat sits at her side.
Reception
A pose with a history
The reclining pose draws on Titian’s Venus of Urbino. Olympia’s modern treatment provoked a scandal when the painting appeared at the Salon of 1865.
The story
1863. Manet paints Olympia.
1865. It debuts at the Salon and causes a scandal.
1890. Claude Monet organises a public subscription, and the state buys it for France.
It hangs today in the Musée d'Orsay.
Realism
Realism turned away from myth and idealised convention, painting contemporary life plainly and with new frankness about the body.