Similarities Between Pastoral Symphony And Le Dejeuner Sur L Herbe

Throughout Art History the human form has fascinated not only artists, but their audiences as well. The nude figure has been a widely accepted source of inspiration, from pre-Historic art to the post-Modern era, but the female nude in particular has not come without controversy. In Titian’s Pastoral Symphony, the two nude figures depicted were received entirely different than Manet’s nude figure in Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe. In the 16th century, the Venetians developed a style of soft-colored lighting on figures and landscapes that lead to a tempered depiction of the nude that was easier to appreciate, where as in 19th century European art the mode was focused on realism and depicted nudity in a less idealized manner that was harsher and more abrupt. Both Pastoral Symphony and Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe portray nude figures, but the distinctions in each allowed very different receptions in the time period in which the pieces were created. The Pastoral Symphony is elusive in its meaning and no art historian is entirely sure what it is meant to convey, but some believe it to be an allegorical painting—a popular mode of representation in 16th century
In the case of Titian’s piece, Venetians of the time would have expected and enjoyed idealized nude figures depicted in mythological and allegorical settings. They would have appreciated Titian’s nostalgic pastoral portrayal, and even though to a modern viewer the figures may look less than ideal, the women’s body would have been what was expected of idealized figure of the time. Dissimilarly, Parisian’s of the 19th century would have still expected a more idealized form than the one Manet portrayed in his piece. Along with the clothes dropped at the edge of the scene, audiences of the time would have been quick to assume that the naked woman in the painting was a prostitute and her stark representation would have surprised Salon goers of the