It will be the style. It will be the origin or the historical period. The fact is that, before Jean-Léon Gérôme, a French painter belonging to the neoclassical art movement, chose bathroom as one of his favorite subjects : the artist we are talking about is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres .

The work of this week is “The turkish bath” (Le Bain Turc , you can see it in the picture), the most famous painting by Ingres and made in 1862. This master piece has for him a very special meaning, since being re-defined as one of the ” intensely personal ” artist .

Ingres took three years of work to complete it. Originally square-shaped, was built on commission for the prince Napoleon. However he returned it to Ingres that transformed the circular shape and added some elements .

Sensual, bright and veiled by a touch of evocative nostalgia: this is the turkish bath, a large harem peopled with odalisques relaxing and spending their time stretched , showing their voluptuous beauty. This work also hides many curiosities:

• The artist admitted that, the round form had to call up the peephole and satisfy the voyeuristic mood of the viewer.
• In the painting there are several quotations of female figures taken from other works and studies of Ingres itself.
• The woman with a crown on her head in the foreground is Lady Wortley Montague: English writer and poet, who inspired “The turkish bath” describing a harem in a letter sent to Ingres.

Fonte immagine: Di Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres – C2RMF: Galerie de tableaux en très haute définition: image page, Pubblico dominio