Dazing Woman

Courbet, who liberated painting from historical and literary subjects, and proposed ”realism”, tackles in this work the traditional motif of a ”reclining nude in a forest”. The result is an elegant work characterized by the contrast of light and dark, and a realistic depiction of the naked human body. The overall idyllic mood is a point that this work carries over from Courbet’s early nudes. Considering the resemblance with the later ”Nude Reclining Woman” (1862) and ”The Murder of Desdemona” (1866), it is very likely that these works referenced the depiction of the weighty-looking dazing woman as an archetype. A state of ”daze” was a motif that Courbet particularly liked in the first place.