Turkish bath by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

This work completes the creative path of Engr. In it, he returned to one of his favorite topics. Niu once glorified the artist. The picture, nostalgically turned to the past, becomes, as it were, the “sum” of his former famous works. For example, a woman with a mandolin sitting in the foreground recalls the “Valpinson bather”, and the dancing figure to the left is Angelica from the painting “Roger and Angelica”.

Everything here bears the imprint of luxury, in which, as in the mirror, the Second Empire is recognized. We feel this era in the sounds of the mandolin and tambourine, in the aroma of coffee, perfume and incense, in the gloss of smooth skin. Ingres artificially compacts the space of the picture, shifting the perspective closer to the viewer and allowing him to better view the opening gallery of naked female bodies.

At first, the “Turkish bath” was square. But in this form she did not like Princess Clotilde, the wife of the first owner of the canvas, Prince Napoleon. Clotilde returned Engra’s work, and then he “rounded” it, mercilessly cutting off the figure of the bather who is depicted in the foreground on the right.