Rejected by the 1863 Salon and shown instead in the Salon des Refusés, Édouard Manet's 2.1 × 2.6 m painting caused an immediate scandal. A contemporary female nude, calmly meeting the viewer's gaze, picnics in a forest glade beside two fully-dressed gentlemen, while a second, lightly-clad woman bathes in the pool behind. By transposing a composition borrowed from Titian and Raphael into scandalous modern dress, Manet confronted bourgeois morality on its own terms and opened one of the foundational chapters of modern painting.

Exhibition Venue

Musée d'Orsay

Paris, France