GRATUITOUS NUDITY

La Grande Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1814) depicts an odalisque - a female slave or concubine in a harem - a popular subject throughout the centuries. The painting was commissioned by Napoleon's sister, Queen Caroline Murat of Naples, and finished in 1814.

The work is considered a significant break from Neo-classicism; a shift toward exotic Romanticism. Grande Odalisque attracted wide criticism when it was first shown. This eclectic mix of styles, combining classical form with Romantic themes, prompted harsh criticism when it was first shown in 1814. Critics viewed Ingres as a rebel against the contemporary style of form and content. When the painting was first shown in the Salon of 1819, one critic remarked that the work had "neither bones nor muscle, neither blood, nor life, nor relief, indeed nothing that constitutes imitation". This echoed the general view that Ingres had disregarded anatomical realism. Ingres instead favored long lines to convey curvature and sensuality, as well as abundant, even light to tone down the volume.

Grande Odalisque has been especially noted for the elongated proportions and lack of anatomical realism.

Stemming from the initial criticism the painting received, the figure in Grande Odalisque is thought to be drawn with "two or three vertebrae too many." Critics at the time believed the elongations to be errors on the part of Ingres, but recent studies show the elongations to have been deliberate distortions. Measurements taken on the proportions of real women showed that Ingres's figure was drawn with a curvature of the spine and rotation of the pelvis impossible to replicate. It also showed the left arm of the odalisque is shorter than the right. The study concluded that the figure was longer by five instead of two or three vertebrae and that the excess affected the lengths of the pelvis and lower back instead of merely the lumbar region.

Given how the duty of concubines were merely to satisfy the carnal pleasures of the sultan, this elongation of her pelvic area may have been a symbolic distortion by Ingres. While this may represent sensuous feminine beauty, her gaze, on the other hand, has been said to reflect a complex psychological make-up or betray no feeling. In addition, the distance between her gaze and her pelvic region may be a physical representation of the depth of thought and complex emotions of a woman's thoughts and feelings


This work is housed in the Louvre in Paris.


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