antonio canova, pauline bonaparte
“[Napoleon’s sister Pauline] commissioned [Canova] to create the statue of her which, now in the Borghese Gallery, portrays her as Venus Victrix reclining on a couch with an apple in her hand. This pose and the nakedness of her breasts were her own idea and embarassed the sculptor who had not wanted to reveal so much of his distinguished model. When she was asked how she could have brought herself to pose almost in the nude, she replied characteristically that it had not worried her at all: there was a stove in the studio.” (Ch. Hibbert,Napoleon. His wives and women [London 2003], p. 230)