The Grande Odalisqe :: Art Analysis

The Grande OdalisqeThe Grande Odalisque painted in 1884, drew umpteen criticisms.There were complaints about the lifelessness of the subject, the fact that she has three vertebrae too many. It illustrates the quite a strange mixture of Ingress artistic allegiances.His subject, the reclining nude figure, is traditional, going hindquarters to Giorgione and Titian but by converting her into an odalisque, an inhabitant of a Turkish harem, he makes a strong concession to the contemporary Romantic taste for the exotic. Ingres treats the figure in his own sculpturesque style polished surfaces and simple rounded volumes controlled by rhythmically flowing contours. The smoothness of the planes of the body is complemented by the broken, busy shapes of the drapery. His confusion for Raphael is shown in the borrowing of that masters type of female breaker point and headdress, and an inclination of the head, as it can bee seen in Raphaels Madonna of the Chair. nevertheless Ingres is drawing not only from the High Renaissance, for his figures languid pose and her proportions (small head, lengthen limbs) betray his debt to such Mannerists as Parmigianino, as does the generally cool glossary scheme.Often Criticized for not being a colourist, Ingres in fact, had a smart as a whip colour sense. It is true that he did not seem to think of his paintings in the main in terms of colour, as did Delacroix, but he did far to a greater extent than simply tint his drawings for emphasis. In this painting Ingres creates colour and tonal relationships so tasteful and subtle as to render them unforgettable. Never insisting on likeness for its own sake, Ingres rarly fails to produce a striking depicting and, analogously to the smooth, formal treatment he gives his nudes, never fails to impart to both characterization and setting an air of suave elegance.