Marià Fortuny, The Odalisque
01 Works & Movie, The Art Of The Nude, with footnotes # 29
The Odalisque
Oil on cardboard
56.9 x 81 cm
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
An odalisque (Turkish: Odalık) was a chambermaid or a female attendant in a Turkish seraglio, particularly the court ladies in the household of the Ottoman sultan.
An odalık was not a concubine of the harem, but a maid, although it was possible that she could become one. An odalık was ranked at the bottom of the social stratification of a harem, serving not the man of the household, but rather, his concubines and wives as personal chambermaids. Odalık were usually slaves given as gifts to the sultan by wealthy Turkish men. Generally, an odalık was never seen by the sultan but instead remained under the direct supervision of his mother, the Valide Sultan.
If an odalık was of extraordinary beauty or had exceptional talents in dancing or singing, she would be trained as a possible concubine. If selected, an odalık trained as a court lady would serve the sultan sexually and only after such sexual contact would she change in status, becoming thenceforth one of the consorts of the sultan.
In contrast to European depictions of nude harem women, they more often wore androgynous robes resembling those worn by the male pages of the palace. The conditions of the Ottoman harem “resembled a monastery for young girls more than the bordello of European imagination. More on an odalisque
Mariano Fortuny y Marsal (1838–1874) is one of the notable artists of the Spanish school of the XIXth century. A fervent admirer of Goya, he had an incontestable influence on the Spanish and Italian painters of his epoch. Following a stay in Morocco in 1860, his topics evolve towards Orientalist subjects.
Mariano Fortuny’s was not only an accomplished painter, but also a very good engraver and designer. The museum Goya, thanks to a donation of the stepdaughter of the artist in 1951 and regular purchases, has eighty-seven of his writings on paper drawings and watercolors, engravings. As part of this exhibition, this whole fund of graphic art is introduced to the public, illustrating his talent for design. More Mariano Fortuny y Marsal
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