<http://schema.org/description>
"In\u00A01863, Victorine Die, a\u00A0favorite model of\u00A0the artist Edouard Manet in\u00A0the 1860s, posed for a\u00A0nude portrait which, upon its exhibition at\u00A0the Paris Salon some two years later, would become one of\u00A0the most scandalous female nudes ever painted. The work, which utterly shocked the Parisian art world, was only accepted into the Salon of\u00A01865 due to\u00A0its inclusion in\u00A0a\u00A0new category, the Salon des Refuses, or\u00A0exhibition of\u00A0paintings initially refused on\u00A0various grounds. While artistic provocations were becoming more common in\u00A0these more ambitious and imaginative years, the violence and fury with which \u201COlympia\u201D was met had few precedents. Critics at\u00A0the time argued that the canvas had nothing whatsoever do\u00A0with art, instead baring more similarities with caricature or\u00A0commercial signage. Yet it\u00A0was exactly this stark energy that generates the work\u2019s unique sacred horror. It\u00A0is\u00A0a\u00A0blunt, crude, and cold rendering of\u00A0sexuality and the female form, and a\u00A0massive departure from the usual glorification of\u00A0naked women as\u00A0carriers of\u00A0symbolic meaning. Manet\u2019s \u201COlympia\u201D marked a\u00A0complete break with the classical aesthetic of\u00A0the official art salons, an\u00A0exhibition ground open exclusively to\u00A0academic painters and those accepted by\u00A0critics. As\u00A0an\u00A0essential ingredient of\u00A0the pre-Impressionist movement, Manet\u2019s reclined revolution helped pave the way for the modernist movement of\u00A0the early twentieth century. Yet the work initially did win a\u00A0few friends, such as\u00A0the author Emile Zola, who were able to\u00A0detect the embryonic modernity of\u00A0this stunning and resilient work."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-print/olympia-1422>