Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Reclining Nude
Edouard Manet French
Not on view
The starting point for any artist when conceiving a major figurative painting was drawing the nude; these two works show the two artists’ differing approaches to this exercise. Manet emphasized the outlines of the figure and gave only the slightest indication of shadows, whereas Degas carefully modeled the contours to convey light falling across the body. This is one of the numerous preparatory drawings he made for Scene of War in the Middle Ages, on view nearby.
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