The definitive masterpiece of French Academicism (L'art pompier), achieving a sensational triumph at the Paris Salon of 1863 and purchased directly by Emperor Napoleon III. Cabanel employs a classical myth as a socially acceptable vessel for overt sensual eroticism. Defined by its porcelain-smooth, enamel-like finish, idealized contours, and complete absence of painterly texture, the canvas stood as the ultimate aesthetic antithesis to Courbet's raw Realism. It was famously condemned by Émile Zola for cloaking physical indulgence in respectable, sweet Academic polish.