Olympia

When this painting first appeared at the Paris Salon of 1865, it caused an absolute scandal. Visitors were shocked, critics were furious, and guards reportedly had to protect the canvas from angry crowds. The problem wasn't nudity itself, since plenty of nude figures hung in galleries at the time. What bothered people was that Manet painted a real, modern woman who stared right back at them with cool confidence. Her name, Olympia, was a common one for courtesans in Paris, and the audience knew exactly what they were looking at. This wasn't a goddess or a mythical figure that made nudity respectable. This was someone they might pass on the street.

Manet borrowed his pose from Titian's famous "Venus of Urbino," but he stripped away all the romantic softness. The brushwork is flat and bold, the lighting is harsh, and Olympia looks anything but shy. Little details tell her story, including the black ribbon at her throat, the single slipper, and the orchid tucked in her hair. A servant brings flowers, likely a gift from an admirer, while a black cat arches its back at the foot of the bed, a cheeky symbol that would not have been lost on viewers of the day.

Though it was mocked at the time, this work became a turning point in art history. Manet's honest, modern approach helped open the door for the Impressionists who followed, and today Olympia is seen as one of the boldest paintings of the nineteenth century.