
by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1814
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres completed this Grande Odalisque in 1814 for Napoleon's sister, Queen Caroline of Naples. The painting shows a reclining nude seen from behind, her body impossibly elongated. Critics have counted anywhere from two to five extra vertebrae in her spine. Her left arm appears shorter than her right. None of this was accidental.
When exhibited at the 1819 Salon, viewers attacked the anatomical distortions. One critic complained the figure had "neither bones nor muscle, neither blood, nor life." Ingres had studied Mannerist painters like Parmigianino, whose Madonna with the Long Neck played similar tricks with proportion. He stretched the odalisque's torso deliberately, perhaps to distance her thoughts from her body, to emphasize the gulf between her inner life and her role as a harem concubine.
The painting measures 91 by 162 centimeters and entered the Louvre collection in 1899. The blue and gold fabrics contrast with her pale flesh, creating a cool, detached sensuality that influenced later artists from Manet to Picasso.

Ancient Roman (Unknown), -100
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Gerard ter Borch
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Jacques-Louis David
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Bernardino Luini
Louvre, Paris, Paris
Other masterpieces from the Neoclassicism movement

Jacques-Louis David, 1793
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1783
Château de Versailles, Versailles, Versailles

Jacques-Louis David, 1812
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1782
National Gallery, London

Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown

Jacques-Louis David
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), Paris, Paris

Jacques-Louis David
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas

Jacques-Louis David
Private Collection, Unknown
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
Browse Collection