where pierre rosenberg is chief curator of painting. when ingres painted this picture in 1814, he was very much admired and also very much criticized-- criticized because critics say there were three vertebras too much in the back of this odalisque. what is an odalisque? an odalisque is a turkish harem girl. you recognize her very well through her costume. the colors are very soft, very precise, very beautiful. the harmony of it is reverse of the very strong coloring david had used for his great pictures. i really do love this picture. why? well, it's not sensual. it's erotic. it's an intellectual picture. it's painted with his brain. in spite of this, it's erotic. it's connected. in fact, it's a connection between brain and eroticism. everything about eroticism is happening in the brain here and nowhere else. it's a very hot picture, but done by an artist whose conception about art is of a very high level. and in a strange way, ingres was criticized in the 19th century because he sought to be a reactionary artist-- an artist of the pas