“New is a well-forgotten past.”, – used to say my mother. I truly believe in a totally newborn and original ideas and creations, but I also believe that many of the things humans create come from the conscious or subconscious inspirations. I want to unfold and compare the two masterpieces from two different eras of art – Venus of Urbino by Titian and Olympia by Manet.
In the foreground of the picture in the luxurious interiors of the palace is depicted a lying young naked woman, which is identified with the goddess Venus. On it only a few ornaments – a ring, a bracelet and earrings. The woman's open look is directed directly at the viewer. In her right hand Venus holds flowers, her left hand covers her bosom, forming the center of the painting's composition. A small dog sleeps at the feet of Venus. In the background of the picture on the right are two maidens busy with a trunk with outfits.
There are different versions of the interpretation of the Titian naked beauty. According to one of them, the picture symbolizes the bonds of marriage. A chest with dresses in the background is considered as a dowry of a naked girl. Other researchers believe that "Venus” is a portrait of a student who actually offers herself to the viewer. Perhaps Titian wanted to tell in his painting about sexuality in marriage, combining an exciting erotic by the virtues of marriage and above all with the fidelity that the dog in the picture represents.
The possibility of such an elevated thematic reading of the "Venus of Urbino" is also created by some peculiarities of its picturesque composition: Venus is separated from the space of the room, thanks to which it exists in its particular world, where the ideal and real boundary turns out to be unsteady. With the finest combinations of warm and cold colors in the image of the body of Venus, Titian creates a feeling of constant color and light overflows, and this motif of the pulsating movement not only simulates the shape of the body, but opens up the focus, the breath of life in it. “Titian's ability with colorito is evident in his use of deep Venetian red. This sensual, carnal color of the bed cushions, flowers and skirt of the woman in the background contrasts wonderfully with the soft, warm flesh tones of the classical nude.” (AAU). At the same time, behind Venus rises the black abstract color of the wall, from a dull, immovable twilight to a pure sound of a strained, rising from nowhere to nowhere vertical. Alongside this black figure, like the silhouette of a harp, the object depth of the window changes to the depth of an objectless depth, and the revealed composition of black and blue reveals to the consciousness what was initially accessible only to the sensation: the image of the transcendental, spiritual space.
In the "Venus of Urbino" all the characteristic features of Titian's painting were fully reflected. In particular, hair, leather, furs, flowers, fabrics and precious stones are transferred by the artist with a naturalness close to optical deception. By this aesthetic means, as well as the sfumato, surrounding the body of a woman, Titian shows the audience her high level of artistic skill. Whoever the woman is – her body reflects the ideal of beauty and is the erotic symbol of the era of the High Renaissance.
There are many rumors going around “Venus of Urbino”, and it is funny to see what Manet has done with his Olympia. " Olympia" is a nickname that French prostitutes often assumed. The nude in the painting represents a prostitute and the model Manet used for the figure was in fact a well-known Parisian prostitute.” (AAU). He chose a known face for his sort of copy forwarded into years of the future, and that’s where the differences start.
Olympia – a painting written in 1863 by the French Impressionist Eduard Manet. Being exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865, the painting became the cause of one of the biggest scandals in the history of art. The picture shows a half-reclining nude woman. With her right hand she rests on lush white pillows, the upper part of the body is slightly raised. Her left hand rests on her hip, covering her bosom. The face and body of the model are facing the viewer.
On her snow-white box is thrown a cream cover, richly decorated on the edge with a floral pattern. The tip covered the girl with her hand. The viewer can also see the dark red upholstery of the bed. The girl is completely naked, there are only a few ornaments on her: her red hair, trimmed back, is adorned with a large pink orchid, on her neck she has a black velvet with a pearl tied with a bow. On the right hand of the model – a wide gold bracelet with a suspension and the girl's legs are decorated with exquisite pantaloons.
The second character on the canvas of Manet is a dark-skinned servant. In her hands she holds a luxurious bouquet in white paper. The black woman is dressed in a pink dress that contrasts brightly with her skin, and her head is almost lost among the black background tones. In the foot of the bed, a black kitten was arranged, serving as an important composition point on the right side of the picture.
The spatial depth of the interior is almost absent from the picture. The artist operates with only two plans: light human figures – in the foreground and a dark interior – in the background.
A bright vertical strip of golden wall decoration divides the dark background of the picture almost in half. This allows you to focus the smaller, left half, a square "frame" on the head of Olympia, and a large, rectangular – on the figure of her maid. Part of the wall behind Olympia's torso in dark brown wallpaper and green drapery creates an accent on the red hair of the model. The entire interior of the room behind the blacks almost completely hide the green curtains, only a small breakthrough in the next picture forms a doorway.
The color scheme of the picture is restrained: there are only a few basic tones in the palette of the artist: white, black, blue (turning into dark green), and from warm – brown-gold and red. The light and beige tones prevailing in the picture, used for the skin of the model and its bed, contrast with the dark, almost black tones of the situation, the images of the servant and the cat, whose outlines almost melt against the backdrop of the curtain. Such a strong contrast divides the cloth in half horizontally.
The artist arranges several flaming accents: the rich color of the orchid in the hair is picked up by the buds of the bouquet and the floral pattern of the bedspread. The rhythm is supported by a red handkerchief on the head of the servant and the upholstery of the bed. The dark green color of the curtain is consonant with the tone of the leaves and stems in the bouquet, the furnishings of the veil, the greenish shadows on the sheets and the edging of the pantaloons.
At the heart of the composition of the picture is the repetition of the triangular form. The dark red triangle of the upholstery of the bed in the lower left corner echoes with the clear protruding corner of the pillow above. The same geometric form is formed by the green drapery over them. The figure of the black woman in the pink on the right is also inscribed in the triangle. “The compositional center of the picture is the womb of Olympia, which is emphasized by its linear construction: the lines of the girl are led by the diagonal lines of the shoulders and arms of both women, the vertical golden wallpaper line and the crossed line of Olympia's legs are directed at it.” (Manet).
Manet's manner of writing seems very flat. The master abandoned the traditional “multilayeredness” and thoroughness of applying smears. Paint here and there beyond the boundaries of the depicted objects, for example, the bouquet practically disintegrates into separate color spots.
Direct predecessor of the Olympia is Venus by Titian of 1538. Naked women are written on them in almost the same position.
Olympia reveals a great similarity with the picture of Titian, because it was with her that Manet wrote a copy during the years of apprenticeship. Both Venus of Urbino and Olympia are depicted in a home setting; as in the picture of Titian, the background of Olympia, Manet is clearly divided into two parts by a vertical line in the direction of the womb of a lying woman. Both women share the same right hand, both women's right arm is decorated with a bracelet, and the left one covers the lap, and the gaze of both beauties is directed directly at the viewer. In both paintings at the feet of women is a kitten or a dog, and there is a maid. Such a manner of citing with the transfer of the Renaissance motif into modern Parisian realities Manet already used when creating the "Breakfast on the Grass".
In the Titian painting "Venus of Urbino" women in the background are busy preparing a dowry, which, together with a sleeping dog at the feet of Venus, should mean a homeliness and fidelity. And with Manet the black maid carries a bouquet of flowers from the admirer – flowers are traditionally considered a symbol of gift, donations. Orchid in the hair of Olympia is an aphrodisiac. Pearl jewelry was worn by the goddess of love Venus, the ornament on the neck of Olympia looks like a ribbon tied on a packaged gift. A bent kitten with a raised tail is a classic attribute in the depiction of witches, a bad omen sign and erotic excesses.
In addition, the bourgeois were particularly outraged by the fact that the model (the naked woman), contrary to all norms of public morality, did not lie, modestly lowering her eyes. Olympia appears before the viewer not asleep, right in the eyes of a prostitute is usually watched by her client, in this role, thanks to Manet, it turns out everyone who looks at his "Olympia".