Nudity, Art and Scandal in Paris! “Olympia” by Edouard Manet

[Warpy]

7. Manet's nude was very different from the soft core porn of the day

because she was so very ordinary, someone wives would have seen in a dressmaker's shop and men would have seen bringing their food and wine to the table at their favorite cafe. She was like the difference between Playboy and Penthouse, the former airbrushed into perfect vinyl and the latter shown with moles and hair.

Also, Manet didn't call her Venus or a wood nymph or any of the other terms classical artists were using for their naked women. She is who she is, ordinary, approachable and available and that is what the people of the day found so threatening. She was someone the average middle class husband could actually get, threatening the sanctity of the home and his peace of mind, mistresses requiring maintenance.

Now, of course, the picture looks pretty tame to us. It's easy to see why Manet caused riots in his own time. He dared to rub people's noses in reality instead of assuaging their fragile nerves with the unattainable perfection of the mythical being.