Time Machine task 1

For this task we have been asked to compare and contrast two paintings (The Sleeping Venus - Giorgione and Olympia - Manet)


The Sleeping Venus - Giorgione (1510)

In this image we see Venus, who appears to be in a deep sleep where we are unable to see her conscious expression laying on a white sheet and red cushion framed by an external landscape which is rather an innovation of this time. All of these things produce an air of mystery about the nude and because she is sleeping suggests that she is dreaming which allows us to think that she is in another world. The pose of Venus is important to look at as it echos the landscape behind implying that there is a connection between her and the nature around, there is also a eroticised feel due to her hand leading down into her crotch. This piece was a collaboration between Giorgione and an artist called Titian who was thought to paint most of the landscape, for European art this was very much a central theme. The juxtaposition between the Venus (the light areas) and the landscape (dark areas) cause the painting to look three dimensional.

It seems to me that this piece is more an ideological painting because Giorgione has painted an unselfconscious Goddess, sleeping within her own world, unawares of the viewer and unaware of any dangers that maybe approaching like the building storm in the distance. There is also an innocence about her because of the way that her hand covers her crotch.

Olympia - Manet (1863)

Here we see 'Olympia' or Victorine Meurent, who happened to be Manet's favourite model this painting was also inspired by Titian's 'Venus of Urbino' (1538) which refers to Giorgione's painting above. Within this painting the nude was thought to be a prostitute within her bed wearing a bootlace for a necklace, gold bracelet and orchid in her hair (suggesting a lifestyle of wealth and sensuality which is likely to have been more of a front to to show she was a better class). Unlike Giorgione's painting, Manet has painted this quite flat in the sense of dimensional space and the contrast between light and dark (chiaroscuro) is extremely harsh. There is also a lack of tones, Olympia is almost all one colour which is again different to Giorgione's painting as Venus was painted as an ideological vision of beauty. One of the biggest differences between the two images is the confrontational stare that occurs with Olympia, this and the firm covered crotch indicates a much more dominating character. When this painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865 the viewers struggled to look at the image in the same way that 'The Sleeping Venus' would be viewed, there was a lack of ease through the painting with every detail being looked at trying to make sense rather than look upon it being in a dream state like Giorgione's image of Venus above. From looking at Titian's painting 'Venus of Urbino' we notice that the inviting gaze is replaced with uneven sized pupils and the loyal sleeping dog is a startled cat which is a sign of infidelity, the braided hair is tied and the softness that Titian creates, that we can also say about Giorgione's painting is changed to something much harder and cold.