o. 4 Edouard Manet, Before the Mirror, 1876, oil on canvas, Justin K. Thannhauser Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. The phrase "plus que nue" is an important one. Why is a woman who reveals no more flesh than she would in evening dress called "more than nude"? It is Nana's audacious yet calm ap- pearance in the secret cloak of expensive and beautiful lingerie before a spectator that is im- modest and that automatically denotes her impurity. Never mind that Manet has fastidiously arranged Nana's arms so that the upper part of her breasts is not shown; wearing a chemise and corset is a brazen "display of her charms" nevertheless. (Indeed, wearing expensive lingerie in front of an observer and possessing feminine charms are synonymous in the mind of this critic.) Because of this shamelessness, the "impressionniste" writes, "she is sordid one hundred times 6 79 7 over, this whore."