Olympia

This bold 1863 painting caused an absolute scandal when it was first shown in Paris. Manet painted a nude woman staring directly at the viewer with an unflinching, almost confrontational gaze, completely unlike the demure, mythological nudes that were popular at the time. The title "Olympia" was a common name for courtesans in 19th-century Paris, and contemporary audiences immediately understood what Manet was depicting: a real, modern woman in a situation they recognized from their own world, not some idealized goddess from ancient Greece.

The servant bringing flowers (likely from a client) and the black cat at the foot of the bed add to the painting's contemporary, everyday atmosphere. Manet borrowed the composition from classic paintings like Titian's Venus of Urbino, but he stripped away the soft, romantic treatment. Instead, he used flat areas of color and harsh contrasts that made critics complain the woman looked like she was cut out of cardboard. What outraged people most wasn't the nudity itself, but the matter-of-fact way Manet presented it, and especially that direct, unapologetic stare that seemed to challenge viewers rather than invite their admiration. Today it's recognized as a groundbreaking work that helped push art toward modernism.