La Grande Odalisque

Overview sentence?

La Grande Odalisque (1814), Ingres, oil on canvas, (0.91 × 1.62cm), commissioned by Queen Caroline of Naples (Napoleon’s sister), Louvre

Date?

1814

Dimensions?

0.91 × 1.62cm

Patron?

Queen Caroline of Naples

Style?

• Neo-Classical

• But influence of Romanticism - exotic subject matter makes deviation from rules necessary.

How is her ethnic identity viewed?

Exoticized - she’s probably Circassion.

What was the work intended for?

Small scale = personal view at the Royal Palace in Naples.

Source: Susan L Siegried, How does her nude pose heighten the exoticism?

“Heightens the exoticism of the painting’s Orientalist air”

Source: Susan L Siegried, power?

“Sensualised self-fashioning of the powerful woman”

Composition key points?

• Odalisque dominates horizontal format - supine & recumbent on velvet cushions.

• Very low viewpoint - viewer looks up.

• Back to viewer - pivots head round, takes a sideways look beyond the frame = not anatomically possible in real life.

What is she surrounded by?

• Ottoman objects.

• Rendered in fine detail e.g. peacock feather fan, hookah pipe (opium), incense burner.

What is her head & exotic scarf directly inspired by?

Raphael’s ‘La Fornarina"‘

Pictorial space key points?

• Shallow space, although figure set back from picture plane to create distance.

• Heavy, wooden closed door - indicates space beyond = mysterious void behind figure.

• Cascading curtains & cropping of scene (left) = unveiling & viewer has privileged view of scene.

What effect does her foreshortened feet create?

Naturalistic sense of depth & invites the viewer in.

Colour key points?

• Blue - exotic, ultramarine pigment from East.

• Cool palette - conflicts intensity of subject.

• Warmer elements e.g. red rubies, gold sheets = heavy & exotic mood of glamour.

• Relaxed mood - earthy browns in fur & fan.

What effect does a limited palette create?

• Harmony & stabilises scene.

• E.g. gold & pale blue head scarf echos gold & pale blue incense burner.

• Hair contrasts blue eyes - most likely Circassian slave of Syrian/Turkish/Russian ethnicity.

Light & tone key points?

• Lit from left front & side - illuminates/highlights figure.

• Evenly diffused despite contrast between darkness & luminosity in background & foreground.

• Dark background = mystery

What does soft tonal modelling show the influence of?

Raphael & Titian.

How is the viewer enthralled in exoticism?

Reflective surfaces of jewels highlights fabrics - suggests wealth & exoticism.

Form key points?

• Sculptural - antiquity viewed through Renaissance & Mannerism lens.

• Idealised

• Neo-classical clarity tempered - soft & warmth of Romanticism.

Line key points?

• Serpentine - exaggerated by 3 extra vertebrae in spine.

• Left calf = impossible long - complex, undulating nature of pose.

• Arc of back echoes curve of elongated arm that holds fan.

Scale key points?

• Precious details create reality effect.

• Very small head compared to exaggerated lower 1/2 of body.

Texture, pattern, ornamentation key points?

• Neo-Classical licked finish = perfection & fantastical nature of imaginary orient.

• Contrast in textures - oil-paint e.g. fur contrast with silk/metal.

What does the bracelet on her wrist mirror?

• Identical to one in Raphael’s portrait of ‘The Queen of Naples’.

• Deliberate allusion to the patron.

What is the Odalisque?

• Women who lives in the Harem.

• Comes from Oda - room in Turkish Harem belonging to Sultan as his bedroom.

• Common to find light-skinned Circassian women in Harem.

How is the influence of the Renaissance seen?

• Combination of academic nude w influence of Renaissance.

• Ideal has been given Turkish ethnicity - viewed through Orientalism lens.

How are stereotypes reinforced?

• Indolence suggested by bare feet.

• Renaissance stronger than antiquity.

• Gentle references to Titian & Botticelli.

Patron context?

• Queen Caroline Murat - Queen of 2 Sicily’s (included Naples).

• Married to Joachim Murat = Marshall of Empire in 1800 (one of Napoleon’s most notorious generals).

What is seen that was encouraged by Napoleon?

• As much focus on objects as the nude.

• Encouraged by N who created schools of Arts & Crafts.

How was Ingres influenced by the subject matter?

• He’d never been inside a Harem.

• Unlike Delacroix, had never travelled to North Africa.

• Source of info from Greek & Roman texts & centuries of travel lighting.

Where can Delacriox’s inspirations from North African be seen?

Women of Algiers (1834)

What was a very important source?

• Montesquieu’s ‘Persian Letters’ (1721).

• First-hand information based on travels to Ottoman Empire.

• Detailed descriptions of clothing, interiors & customs.

Technological context?

• Ingres = master of drawing.

• Stated “Drawing is the probity of art”

• Preparatory studies were carried out - began work in Naples & completed it after moving to Rome in May 1815.

What drove the Orientalist craze?

Napoleon had been to Africa & the near east

How was Ingres interested in Napoleon?

Worked for Napoleon previously e.g. ‘Napoleon’s Enthroned’ (1806).

How was Ingres interested in Orientalism?

• Fuelled by Joachim Murat.

• His popularity as a military hero = bound-up with Egyptian & Syrian campaigns on behalf of Napoleon.

Style of painting?

• Neo-Classical - licked finish & underpinned by drawing.

• Ingres was David’s most famous student.

• Model’s head = combination of a reference to Raphael’s ‘La Fornarina’ & real-life model.

Materials, techniques & processes context?

• An idea with Orientalist ethnicity.

• Illusion of reality depends on deliberate distortions.

• Oriental accuracy was important = Ingres worked from Ottoman objects.

What was the paintings original pendent?

Sleeper of Naples (1808) (now lost)

What else did Ingres produce at this time & why?

• Bather of Valpincon.

• Part of study requirements for the French Academy in Rome.

Why was the power of the female subject matter important?

• Women in the circle of Caroline Murat were powerful - supported Neo-Classical sculpture & painting.

• Pauline Borghese & Juliette Recamier.

Why did Ingres struggle to sell the painting?

• Salon of 1819 - he struggled to sell.

• He moves it to Salon Carre instead - usually reserved for History Paintings.

• Only way viewer could make sense of it - interpret it as a mythological subject.