ABSTRACT
The numerous books and articles that have been devoted to Courbet's well-known canvas The Painter's Studio (fig. 1) invariably presuppose that the painting is a pictorial manifesto rather than a factual representation of what went on in the artist's studio–indeed, that The Painter's Studio “hides making” and “shows creation.” This premise appears to be justified by the work's complete title, L'Atelier du peintre: Allégorie réelle déterminant une phase de sept années de ma vie artistique (The Painter's Studio: Real Allegory Determining a Phase of Seven Years of My Life as an Artist), which encourages an allegorical reading–though the word “real” appears to suggest that the allegory is constructed from, or may contain, real elements. Gustave Courbet, <italic>The Painter's Studio</italic>, 1855, Paris, Musée d'Orsay. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Gustave Courbet's The Painter's Studio, 1855, depicts a complex scene with numerous figures engaged in various activities in a studio setting, showcasing Courbet's realistic style. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003697329/ab8c022b-5032-48de-8c3c-c2fc60292625/content/pg63_1.jpg"/>
