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.Bathing

The bath in mythology

The bath in mythology

Susanna and the Elders

Susanna and the Elders

The bath in the Latin world

The bath in the Latin world

Bathing in the Middle Ages

Bathing in the Middle Ages

The "dry wash"

The "dry wash"

Louis XIV's bathtub

Louis XIV's bathtub

The bath's return to favor

The bath's return to favor

Healthy body, healthy mind

Healthy body, healthy mind

The principles of hygiene

The principles of hygiene

The "bathing hit"

The "bathing hit"

Bathing is a pleasure

Bathing is a pleasure

Medieval steam rooms

Medieval steam rooms

The Garden of Delights

The Garden of Delights

Cover this breast which I cannot behold

Cover this breast which I cannot behold

Pleasure hidden beneath morality

Pleasure hidden beneath morality

The relaxation of moral standards

The relaxation of moral standards

The nude in the bath becomes realistic

The nude in the bath becomes realistic

The 20th century: La Dolce Vita

The 20th century: La Dolce Vita

The suicide of Seneca or the fatal bath

The suicide of Seneca or the fatal bath

The Assassination of Marat

The Assassination of Marat

"Enter now, Jean Moulin!"

"Enter now, Jean Moulin!"

The Masters of Suspense

The Masters of Suspense

The nude in the bath becomes realistic

In the late 19th century, society became more permissive. Nudes were painted for their own sake, in realistic situations. And it is, after all, in the bathtub that one is naked. Edgar Degas made it one of his favorite themes. Yet for all that, it was impossible to paint a respectable woman naked, so the models were most likely to be prostitutes in a brothel.

Woman seated on the edge of the bath sponging her neck - Edgar Degas
Woman seated on the edge of the bath sponging her neck

There are many paintings, drawings and pastels by Degas showing a woman either in or seated on the edge of the bathtub, taking a bath or having just emerged from one. For Degas it was an opportunity to paint three-quarter and back views of the figure, draw nudes without showing the face and, like Bonnard after him, capture the play of light on the skin through its shimmering reflection in the water. But let us listen to Degas, whom history was to rank among the greatest artists of his time but also, as a man, a misogynist, reactionary and misanthrope: "Until now, the nude had always been shown in poses that presuppose an audience. But my women are unpretentious people... I show them without vanity or affectation, like animals cleaning themselves."

Edgar Degas

Born in Paris in 1834, Edgar Degas (a contraction of his real name, de Gas) belonged to a wealthy middle-class family of Neapolitan origin. He began formal studies in painting only in 1855, after studying law but, drawn by the painters of the Renaissance, left for Italy in 1856 where he traveled until 1860—initially staying with family in Naples and later moving on to Rome and Florence where he met Gustave Moreau. His early works, especially his portraits of family members, are neoclassical in style. But Degas' interest in intimate and risqué subjects such as cabaret, theatre and brothel scenes, his photography-inspired compositions (high- and low-angle), and long conversations with his friend Manet took him away from this style. From 1874 onwards, he kept company with the Impressionists without necessarily subscribing to their theories on light (he preferred artificial light) or working in the open air (his landscapes were painted only from memory). He is therefore an unclassifiable artist, who stopped painting in the early 1890s when he became virtually blind, but who continued to produce sculpture until his death in 1917.

© RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski