Time Machine; Task One

“Realism was the dominant movement from about 1840 until 1870-80. Its aim was to give a truthful, objective and impartial representation of the real world, based on meticulous observation of contemporary life.” Nochlin. Realism (1971)

Sleeping Venus (1510) by Giorgione is the first painting on canvas rather than a painting on panel. As well as introducing this technique, he tended to work with pigments mixed with oil and flexible resins enabling him to have great freedom in his brushwork.  The painting is significant in the history of art due to his representation of the female figure.

The woman in the painting is dreaming, her facial expression and composition of her body implies this. The landscape in the background reflects the shapes of the female figure as though she is a part of the scene. The placement of her hand is erotic yet elegant this would suggest that the artist wanted to portray a mythological beauty. This allows the viewer to have a closer look without relating with the subject.

Olympia (1863) by Edouard Manet is a portrait of a 16 year-old girl Victorine Meurent. This portrait created a lot of conflict and scandal due to its mockery and provocative explicit modern subject. Manet did not intend to shock the audience but to portray the contemporary woman. The portrait is strongly influenced by Japanese art.

The girl in the painting is lying in a disheveled bed completely nude except for slippers, flower in her head, a bracelet and a choker around her neck. In the background the viewer can see a black maid holding a bouquet of flowers and a cat with an erect tail at the end of the bed. Her raised head and open eyes engage and confront the viewer this signifies male desire as though the customer has entered the room.

Venus is a mythological timeless being; she is passive whereas Olympia has authority that indicates a real circumstance. The difference between the two females is important. The slender adolescent body of Victorine is a contrast to the voluptuous figure of Venus. Unlike Giorgione, Manet chose to portray her body in this way to reveal the prostitution of modern city life. The character of Venus however captured femininity and sexuality; narrow waisted and wide hipped she is transformed into this goddess for males to embrace. Victorine covers herself with her left hand, as if she is aware of being observed, whilst Venus is leading us to her femininity in a natural way.

Venus is surrounded by a wide natural and idealistic place, which emphasizes the sense of the mythological beauty of the character, whereas in Olympia the viewer is forced to relate to a real bedroom of that time. In Venus the viewer cannot know the history of the woman however in Olympia all of the props (the cat, the black maid, the flower in her hair, the bracelet, the choker) indicate the role of that particular woman of that time: a prostitute. 

Written by group 5.