Young Women of Sparta (Jeunes filles de Sparte)

Corot devoted a number of works to Emma Dobigny, his favorite model, often dressing the young Frenchwoman in garb that evoked the East—here showing her in the costume of ancient Sparta. Corot’s allusion to a historical past and his inclusion of dancing girls in the background—perhaps a reference to the vigorous physical exercises of the Spartans—provide a veneer of narrative for a work that for the most part exploits Western notions of the East’s seductive allure. Corot poses Dobigny in an iconic posture of eroticized passivity—lying on a leopard pelt with her gaze demurely averted and with her voluptuous curves, bare legs, and open neckline displayed for the viewer. [source]