The Bath 1890

Edgar Degas created 'The Bath,' currently held at the Carnegie Museum of Art, using pastel and essence on paper. The motif of the bathing woman, central here, has a long lineage. From antiquity, where goddesses like Venus emerged from water, symbolizing purity and renewal, to later interpretations emphasizing privacy. Consider Susanna bathing, surprised by the elders, a common theme in Renaissance art. Though different in setting, Degas strips away the narrative, focusing instead on the intimate, unguarded moment. The act of cleansing is both physical and psychological. Water, a powerful symbol, washes away not only dirt but also stress, anxieties. We find ourselves observers of a deeply private act, connected through shared human experience. The pose echoes classical sculptures, yet the loose strokes and asymmetry ground us in modern life, underscoring how age-old themes perpetually resurface, dressed in the fabric of the present.