Revealing the influence of Renaissance art, particularly from Giorgione’s famous Sleeping Venus, Modigliani’s Reclining Nude with a Blue Cushion adopts the familiar pose of the great Venetian artist’s goddess. Although possessing an unappealing double chin and shiny nose, the nude body reclines in a pronounced diagonal, as her right arm cradles her head and her (unusually for Modigliani) slim body hovers seductively in front of the viewer. Though the artist’s nude portraits are usually rumoured to be post-coital works, charged with an erotic atmosphere, it should not be forgotten that they are never pornographic in their representation, but innovative and modern interpretations of an old theme.