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as in Botticelli's Venus and Mars in London (fig. 10)^25, but they may also serve as a support for Cupid, as is the case in Bronzino's Allegory of Venus and Cupid, also in London^26. However, in spite of its iconographic appropriateness, the cushion might seem to be an eccentric element to incorporate into the base of a free-standing sculpture. In fact, a cushion was employed in a similar position in several Florentine Renaissance sculptures, two of which are analogous to Rauschenberg's Odalisque in subject matter. The relevant pieces are Donatello's bronze Judith and Holofernes and Cellini's Perseus and Medusa (figs. 11, 12), also in bronze, both of which stood in the Piazza della Signoria in 1953^27. In Donatello's Sculpture Holofernes sprawls on a luxurious cushion, which intervenes between the figures and the base of the work, and in Cellini's the twice-winged Perseus stands triumphantly over the lascivious body of Medusa, who lies on another sinful cushion. As is well known, Donatello's group symbolized the triumph of chastity over sensuality, represented by Holofernes and his cushion, and Cellini's bronze group presumably signifies a similar victory of continence over eroticism^28. In addition to sharing the motif of the cushion then, Donatello's Judith and Holofernes, Cellini's Perseus and Medusa, and Rauschenberg's Odalisque also have in common this underlying current of eroticism.

Neither the Roman nor the Florentine sculptures are being presented here as sources of Rauschenberg's combine in any literal or archaeological sense. However, certain elements in Odalisque, in particular the obelisk and cushion, and perhaps also its overall construction, involving the piling of unit upon unit, may reflect Rauschenberg's altered and highly personal recollections of certain monumental works of public sculpture, seen in Italy in 1953. If one takes into consideration Rauschenberg's acknowledgement of the history of art in many of the images pasted to the box and the allusive nature of the title of his piece, this should not seem too outrageous a proposal. Also, it has the attraction of adding monumentality to Rauschenberg's multiplicity. 

1 See L. Alloway, Robert Rauschenberg (Smithsonian Institute, National Collection of Fine Arts), Washington 1977, p. 5. This article was written as a diversion from Bronzino studies during a term as a Visiting Member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. I am most grateful to Professors Irving Lavin and Harry Woolf for the invitation to attend the Institute for Advanced Study. I am also very much indebted to a number of colleagues at the Institute for their encouragement and suggestions. In particular, I would like to thank Vicente Lleo Canal, Irving Lavin, Stephen Polcari, and Egon Verheyen.

2 Ibid.    

3 In the early version of Odalisque, reproduced here as figure 2, the front of the box is covered and the interior is unlit.

4 See H. E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, III: The Mythological and Historical Paintings, London 1975, pl. 3. For a judicious discussion of the authorship of the painting and Giorgione's role in it, see ibid., pp. 10-15 and cat. no. 29.

5 For a brief discussion of copies of Leonardo's painting, with further bibliography, see L. H. Heydenreich, Leonardo: The Last Supper (Art in Context), New York 1974, pp. 99-105.

6 On the significance of the curtain in art, see J. K. Eberlein, The Curtain in Raphael's Sistine >>Madonna>>, Art Bulletin, LXV, 1983, pp. 61-77.

7 Robert Rauschenberg, 1977 [note 1], cat. no. 1.

8 The drawing, which is in the British Museum, is illustrated in F. Hartt, Michelangelo Drawings, New York, n.d., cat. no. 11.

9 The entire painting appears in Rauschenberg's centennial poster for the Metropolitan Museum, executed in 1970 (Robert Rauschenberg, 1977 [note 1], cat. no. 187).

10 Illustrated in C. Sterling and H. Adhémar, Musée national du Louvre, peintures école française, XIXe siècle, Paris, 1961, pl. 559.

11 An engraving after the painting by Charles Mottram is reproduced in C. Lennie, Landseer: The Victorian Paragon, London 1976, pl. 12(a). Rauschenberg incorporated the stag itself and the dead deer hound into his Curfew of 1958 (Robert Rauschenberg, 1977 [note 1], cat. no. 56).

12 Rauschenberg was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1925 (ibid., p. 25).

13 The date does not appear on the earlier version reproduced here as figure 2.

14 Ibid., cat. no. 42.

15 Ibid., cat. no. 40.

16 Ibid., p. 6.

17 C. Gould, The Paintings of Correggio, Ithica 1976, pp. 274-275.
I am indebted to Egon Verheyen for this suggestion. A dog also appears in engravings after a drawing by Michelangelo of the same subject (see, for example, Il primato del disegno [Firenze e la Toscana dei Medici nell'Europa del Cinquecento], Florence 1980, cat. no. 645, ill. on p. 259). That Rauschenberg was familiar with the story of Ganymede is evident from his witty Pail for Ganymede of 1959 (Robert Rauschenberg, 1977 [note 1], cat. no. 72).

18 Gould, Correggio [note 17], pp. 194-196. The pose of the girl on the right side of Rauschenberg's box recalls that of Michelangelo's Leda and Titian's Danaē, reproduced by Gould on p. 134.

19 See G. Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, 2: The Passion of Jesus Christ, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1972, pp. 58-60. I am indebted to Irving Lavin for this suggestion. With the recognition of these more or less direct references to the Passion, one wonders if the kissing couple, below the Noli me tangere, may allude to Judas's betrayal of Christ. Similarly, Rauschenberg's

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