Where would art be without the female bust to liven it up? We survey busts in art, dressed and undressed, in works by Ingres, Matisse, Liotard, and Michelangelo. We see the beautiful and the weird. Have a listen — and look up the art if you like, with these handy links.

INGRES:

Madame Aymon, 1806

https://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_75041/Jean-Auguste-Dominique-Ingres/Madame-Aymon%2C-known-as-La-Belle-Z%E9lie

BOUCHER:

François Boucher’s Odalisque, c. 1745

https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/eros/art/eros-lodalisque-francois-boucher

MATISSE:

Henri Matisse, Odalisque, Harmony in Red, 1926-27:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/489997

Matisse, Odalisque in Red Trousers, 1921:

https://www.wikiart.org/en/henri-matisse/odalisque-in-red-trousers-1921

Matisse, Odalisque with Red Culottes, 1921:

https://www.sartle.com/artwork/odalisque-with-red-culottes-henri-matisse

Matisse, Odalisque Seated with Arms Raised, Green Striped Chair, 1923.

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.46642.html

LIOTARD:
Jean-Étienne Liotard, The Chocolate Girl, 1744:

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-chocolate-girl/CwHMb7Dvgi2ZaA?hl=en

Liotard, Apollo and Daphne, 1736:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Jean-%C3%89tienne_Liotard_-_Apollo_en_Daphne%2C_naar_het_beeld_van_Gianlorenzo_Bernini_in_de_Borghese_verzameling_te_Rome.jpg

RUBENS:

Peter Paul Rubens, Venus and Adonis, c. 1630s:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437535

MICHELANGELO:

Selene, or Night sculpture (c. 1520-1534):

https://www.michelangelo.org/night.jsp