Collection/1800s

Grande Odalisque by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

An odalisque, a concubine in a harem, lies on a couch and looks over her shoulder at us. Ingres painted her in 1814 for Napoleon’s sister Caroline, Queen of Naples.

Critics at the time noticed she has too many vertebrae: her back is far too long, and her arm too. Ingres stretched her deliberately for the sake of the curve. A recent study counted three extra vertebrae.