Inspired by the Venus of Urbino by Titian and with references to the Maya Desnuda by Goya, Manet made his "remake", proposing not a goddess, but two women certainly not nobles: Olympia is a prostitute, depicted in her workplace, and the other woman is a slave.
Dated 1863, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865, the painting caused stir for the figure of the prostitute and not so much for the slave. So, why the black servant, despite his status even lower than Olympia, is taken into consideration only for a matter of color balance in the painting?
Dated 1863, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865, the painting caused stir for the figure of the prostitute and not so much for the slave. So, why the black servant, despite his status even lower than Olympia, is taken into consideration only for a matter of color balance in the painting?
Certainly were different times and therefore different considerations, but with a more contemporary eye is a licit question.
So I wanted to emphasize the figure most discriminated, through an exchange of roles, positions and so also meanings.
So I wanted to emphasize the figure most discriminated, through an exchange of roles, positions and so also meanings.
Édouard Manet, Olympia, 1863, Oil on canvas, 130.5 cm × 190 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Done, The Downgrading of Olympia, 2014, Pixels on virtual table, image editing, photomontage
