Naked opinions

Published on 14/09/2012 00:00

Just to add to Fiona McCade’s fascinating comparison (Perspective, 13 September) between GQ magazine’s picture of nude Lana del Rey and Manet’s Le dejeuner sur l’herbe, Manet himself based his picture on a work variously attributed to Giorgione or Titian called Fete Champetre, in which two clothed gents play lutes while their naked ladyfriends play the flute or get water from the well.

In spite of the lack of attire, both ladies appear the opposite of shocking and are painted in rather modest poses – neither looks out at the viewer, as one of Manet’s ladies does. And as Fiona McCade points out, there is a big difference between a picture 
designed to shock bourgeois 19th century Parisians and GQ presenting an image of woman as vulnerable and passive, which neither Giorgione or Manet did.

(Dr) Mary Brown

Dalvenie Road

Banchory

Aberdeenshire