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meaning, already mentioned above, the bird has been given an autobiographical significance, inspired by Helen Rauschenberg's recollections of the small menageries collected by her brother during their childhood. At one time there was <> among his creatures16.

In addition to possessing these evident or plausibly documented values, the rooster may be connected significantly with a number of the images on the sides of Rauschenberg's <>. For example, it may be that Rauschenberg intended the rooster to parody the baseball pitcher. After all, the fiercely territorial antics of the barnyard rooster have a good deal in common with the intimidating strutting of the baseball hero on his dusty mound. Similarly, the bird's feathered proximity to winged Cupid makes a nice visual juxtaposition, replete with allusions to the cock's sexuality and perhaps inverting Diogenes' cynical definition of man as a featherless biped! Moreover, the rooster seems to elaborate and even complete some of the images on the sides of the box. For example, Landseer's deer hound immediately brings to mind the abandoned dog in the Rape of Ganymede by Correggio (fig.7)17. This association in turn transforms the barnyard rooster into a Jovian eagle, temporarily without a Ganymede. Could it be that the child on the tricycle or one of Michelangelo's putti is his intended captive? In the same vein, the pin-up girls bring to mind classical bathers and mythological heroines, such as Danae or Leda, and recall another painting by Correggio - the Leda in Berlin (fig.8)18. Is the girl on the right side of Rauschenberg's box to be understood as an abandoned or expectant Leda, and are those on the left side her attendant nymphs? And is the rooster now Jupiter himself, transformed into a swan? Finally, the rooster also complements the images of the Last Supper and Noli me tangere, since a similar bird played a significant role in the drama of Christ's passion. Rauschenberg's rooster stands uncharacteristically silent over the Last Supper, perhaps awaiting its role in Peter's triple denial of Christ, and looks forward to Christ's resurrection on the opposite side of the box. In this context, it is significant that in scenes representing Peter's denial or Christ's intimation that Peter would deny him the cock in general is shown perched upon a column (fig.9)19.

In view of the apparently inexhaustible suggestiveness of the figurative imagery of Rauschenberg's Odalisque, it is astonishing that nobody has enquired into the sources and significance of the construction itself. As we see it today, Odalisque is an assemblage of the five superimposed elements or units, each of which possesses an art historical identity: the stuffed rooster, which now assumes an emblematic or even heraldic character; the large, decorated box, which suggests a painted chapel, turned inside out; the wooden post or newel, the twin of which is incorporated into Untitled of 1955; the soft, yielding cushion; and, finally, a solid wooden plinth, reminiscent of the base of an ancient statue, but distinguished from it by possessing wheels to permit the

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Fig. 8 Correggio, Leda. Gemaldegalerie SPK, Berlin-Dahlem

combine to be moved around20. Simply by listing the elements of Odalisque in this fashion, it becomes apparent that Rauschenberg's construction is a work in the traditions of monumental sculpture and architecture, in spite of the application to it of the many images already discussed. Moreover, whether consciously or otherwise, it recalls certain major works of public sculpture from the periods of the Renaissance and Baroque in Italy.

Before examining further the nature of Odalisque, it is important to place it in the context of the development of Rauschenberg's career. Odalisque in fact was begun within two years of Rauschenberg's return to the United States after a European trip in 1952-1953. In the autumn of 1952 Rauschenberg went to Italy, France, and Spain with Cy Twombly. After spending a short period in North Africa, in February 1953 he returned to Italy, where he had two exhibitions of rope objects and boxes constructed while travelling. The

Fig. 9 Christ warns Peter that he will deny him. Mosaic, S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
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