Fringe Benefits: Olympia’s Shawl and French Fashion
Evening Lecture
12 April 2013
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room

Edouard Manet, Victorine Meurent, c. 1862. Oil on canvas, 171.1 x 105.8 cm. Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Manet’s most famous courtesan, Olympia, fingers a floral shawl as she gazes boldly at the viewer of the painting. Professor Therese Dolan (Temple University) illustrates how Manet skillfully employs the shawl’s economic and social status to connote levels of class and power in articulating Olympia’s sexual identity.
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This event is supported by Friends of the RA
, as part of the Adult learning programme.