The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 7, 2026

A horizontally oriented print in black ink on light paper depicts a nude woman reclining on a bed at left, looking out at us with a ribbon around her neck. Behind her, a woman with dark skin holds a large wrapped bouquet of flowers. At the foot of the bed on the right, a small black cat stands with its tail raised. Dense hatching fills the dark background, contrasting with the light bedding and figures.

Olympia

1867

Édouard Manet

(French, 1832–1883)
France, 19th century
etching
Gift of Ralph King 1922.186
Catalogue raisonné: Harris 53
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Manet's model, Victorine Meurent, was herself a successful painter who showed her work at Paris's salon.

Description

When Edouard Manet’s painting Olympia was exhibited in Paris in 1865, it was met by the critics and general public with jeers, laughter, criticism, and distain. Manet had depicted his model, Victorine Meurent, as a modern day courtesan, confrontational rather than seductive. Manet’s depiction of a prostitute’s body in a contemporary setting was a radical rejection of the idealized beauty of the traditional female nude. Olympia forced recognition of troubled and contradictory attitudes toward prostitution in the mid-19th century, much to the discomfort of contemporary audiences. The artist made this etching to reproduce his controversial painting.
  • Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in 19th-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013).
    Urban Vicissitudes. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-September 29, 1985).
    The Lessons of the Academy. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 8-May 29, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Olympia|url=false|author=Édouard Manet|year=1867|access-date=07 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1922.186