La Grande Odalisque
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
1814
Calling on previous works by Titian, Giorgione, and David, Ingres’ 1814 painting portrays a lazing, nude odalisque (assistant to, or chambermaid for, a concubine in a harem), donned only in a turban. Though exhibited in the Salon in 1819, the painting wasn’t regarded favorably until subsequent showings in 1846 and 1855. Of interest to art historians is the deliberate addition of five additional vertebrae, thus distorting and elongating the lower back of the woman.
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