Cesar Lucas Abreu/Cover/Getty ImagesThe Origin of the World by Gustave Courbet was painted in 1866.A French historian claims that he has inadvertently uncovered one of the most scandalous mysteries in the art history community the identity of the nude model who posed forGustave Courbets 1866 paintingThe Origin of the World.The painting, which features a close-up rendering of female genitalia has been calledarts most scandalous vagina. The models face isnt exhibited in the painting and only depicts the female model from the chest down. A painting as intimate as this was naturally quite shocking for the 19th-century public.Indeed, the painting proved stirring enough that Facebook once censored profiles that featured it, which led to a 2011 French court case.The models identity has been a mystery since the paintings inception, leaving art historians to debate the matter since.Its been long believed that the womans identity belonged toCourbets lover, the Irish model Joanna Hiffernan. There were speculations here though, as Hiffernan was known to have fiery red curls and the genitalia featured in Courbets work is regaled with dark pubic hair instead.This was until French historian Claude Schopp uncovered evidence which actually points to a different woman entirely: Parisian ballet dancerConstance Quniaux.TwitterResearchers are 99 percent sure that the model is Parisian ballet dancerConstance Quniaux.Schoppdiscovered a connection between Courbets models identity and communications between Alexandre Dumas and his friend George Sand while reading through copies of Dumass letters for a book.He had been curious about a particular line he had previously translated as:One does not paint the most delicate and the most sonorous interview of Miss Queniault (sic) of the Opera.Schopp realized that the word interview should have actually read interior, which to Schopp indicated that the paintings model was actually Queniaux.Constance Queniaux was a mistress of the Ottoman diplomat Halil erif Pasha when the picture was painted in 1866, and it is now believed that Halil himself actually commissioned the painting for his own personal collection. These facts indicated to Schopp thatQueniaux was the face behind the infamous erotic portrait, and not Courbets lover a discovery that he happened upon completely by coincidence.SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty ImagesGustave Courbets The origin of the world officially has a face to match its body: Constance Queniaux.Usually I make discoveries after working away for ages, said Schopp. Here I made it straight away. It almost feels unjust.Schopp shared his discovery withthe head of the French National Librarys prints department, Sylvie Aubenas. She agreed with Schopp, and concluded that his theory as to who Courbets nude model was is as accurate as it can possibly be.This testimony from the time leads me to believe with 99 percent certainty that Courbets model was Constance Queniaux, Aubenas reported.Aubenas said thatdescriptions of Queniauxs beautiful black eyebrows matched up with the color of the nude models pubic hair. She also believes that it was once fairly well known thatConstance Queniaux was the nude model behind this painting, but that it was lost over time asQueniaux rose in the ranks of society, becoming a lady of leisure and known for her philanthropic work.But as is demonstrated by Schopps latest discovery, not all of the evidence that linkedQueniaux to the nude model inCourbets famous painting was erased.Further, upon her death in 1908, Queniaux left a floral Courbet painting which featured a blossoming red camellia in the center. This style and flower were closely associated with courtesans of the time, due in part to a work by Dumas, The Lady of the Camellias.What better tribute from the artist and his patron to Constance? Aubenas posits.Indeed, how else could Courbet and his patron have thanked this woman for lending her genitalia to art history than by gifting her the painting of a metaphorical one? After learning about Constance Quniaux, the model for Gustave Courbets The Origin Of The World, read about the story of a $160 million painting that was stolen, only to be found decades later in the home of an elderly married couple. Then, check out the story of howVincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa.The post The Mystery Behind One Of Art Historys Most Scandalous Paintings Has Just Been Resolved appeared first on All That's Interesting.