Reclining odalisque 1839

Francesco Hayez's "Reclining Odalisque" presents us with a complex figure, painted in Italy sometime in the mid-19th century. The image invokes the orientalist fantasy typical of European art at this time. But Hayez was an artist invested in the political project of Italian unification, and this work presents a challenge to the norms of the Italian art establishment. The “odalisque,” or harem woman, was typically depicted as an exotic object of male desire. But here, the woman's gaze is averted. The composition invites us to consider Italian culture's relationship to both Europe and the East. How do we consume images of other cultures? What are the politics of representing the female body? To answer these questions, we can look to historical and literary sources, as well as institutional records. The meaning of a work like this is never fixed, but always open to reinterpretation.