Manet's Olympia

1 The head is raised from the pillow as though someone (the viewer) has entered the room and she is greeting them. The position of the head also introduces a tension into the image and complements the intensity of her gaze.

2 Directness of the gaze straight at the viewer both involves the viewer in the image but also suggests a woman who feels in control despite her nudity and her apparent vulnerability. It is though she is saying this meeting is on her terms.

3 Left arm placed as though it is draped over her body . It is oddly disproportional to the rest of her body. (Compare it to the arm nearest to us.) It also draws the eye to the genital area of the woman.

4 Her hand covers the area that has been drawn to our attention by the positioning of the arm perhaps suggesting that  their are terms to be discussed or relationships established before all is revealed. Critics at the time described her hand and other parts of her body as 'dirty' as indeed the hand appears. Again there is a disproportionality between the hand and her arm.

5 Black servant girl whose gaze draws us back to the main subject of the painting - Olympia. The figure provides balance to the picture whilst the overall dark colours of that side of the image also contrast with the light of the area that encompasses the naked woman.

6 One shoe remains on her feet suggestive of a quick disrobing on hearing someone at the door. She has prepared herself for the viewer.

7 Black cat on bed. Often used as symbol of magic or evil.

8 The asymmetry of her body (see also the difference in size between her two eyes)  either adds to or distracts from her beauty. Not only does this separate her from the perfect beauties of such works as Titian's Venus but also suggests that she is attainable by ordinary mortals and not just the Gods.

The viewer who is not seen in the picture is drawn into it by the artist's use of lines and symbols. We are almost commanded to gaze upon her beauty, living out our fantasies with a woman who apparently is making herself available. 

Manet used the conventions of the nude seen in paintings by Titian and others but by changing the emphasis in key areas such as the gaze and the position of the body broke those conventions. For him the unattainability of the goddess like women of earlier nudes was replaced by something with which we could directly relate. She is of this world and challenges our view of how she should behave in our presence.