Manet's Le Dejeuner Sur l'herbe

Edouard Manet''s controversial painting Le Djeuner sur l''herbe is one of the best known images in French art. The subject of critical analysis for more than a century it still defies singular interpretations. These essays written specially for this volume by the leading scholars of French modern art therefore offer six different readings of the painting incorporating close examinations of its radical style and novel subject relevant historical developments and archival material as well as biographical evidence that prompts psychological inquiries.