The mystery model of the painting "The Origin of the World" identified by experts like Constance Queniaux

One of the greatest mysteries in the history of art seems to have been solved. The identity of the model that posed for the most scandalous painting of the nineteenth century, "The Origin of the World" by Gustave Courbet, was finally revealed.

The experts say that they are "99% sure" that the notoriously nude regions of the painting belong to Parisian dancer Constance Queniaux. The canvas has never lost its shock power – bring out the prude in Facebook, which censors the profiles by using it until 2011.

For decades, art historians have been convinced that the bare chest and genitals he represents belonged to Courbet's lover, the Irish model Joanna Hiffernan. In a typically Parisian love triangle, she is also linked to her friend, the American artist James Whistler.

But doubts persisted – mainly because the dark pubic hair of the painting did not match the mane of fiery red curls of Hiffernan. Now, documentary evidence found in the correspondence between French writers Alexandre Dumas Jr. – the son of the author of "The Three Musketeers" – and George Sand points directly to a former dancer at the Paris Opera.

Queniaux was a mistress of the Ottoman diplomat Halil Sherif Pasha – aka Khalil Bey – when the painting was painted in the summer of 1866. And it was he who commissioned the painting at Courbet for his personal collection of eroticism.

Courtesans competing

French historian Claude Schopp discovered the Queniaux connection when he was browsing copies of Dumas' letters for a book. A passage made him perplexed: "We do not pose the most delicate interview and the most sound of Miss Queniault (sic) of the Opera".

It was only when he viewed the original manuscript that he realized that there had been an error in his transcript. "Interview" was actually "inside".

"Usually, I make discoveries after working long," said the author, whose new book on discovery will be released this week. "Here I did it right away, it feels almost unfair."

Schopp shared his discovery with the head of the French National Library's print department, Sylvie Aubenas, who is also convinced that Queniaux was the model. "This testimony of the time brings me to believe with 99% of certainty that the model of Courbet was Constance Queniaux," she confirmed to AFP.

Queniaux was 34 years old at the time and, having retired from the opera, he was competing with the famous courtesan Marie-Anne Detourbay for the affections of Halil Sherif Pasha. Detourbay, sometimes known as Jeanne de Tourbey, held a famous salon and later became the Comtesse de Loynes.

Some also thought that she was the model of "The Origin of the World".

Link "La Traviata"

But Aubenas said the contemporary descriptions of Queniaux's "beautiful black eyebrows" fit better with the luxuriously bushy maidenhair of the model. The library has several photographs of her, including one of the famous pioneer of photography Nadar.

Aubenas believes that the secret of the model's identity was known to cognoscenti but was lost over time, Queniaux becoming a very respectable leisure woman known for her philanthropy. Another discovery by Schopp contributed to the argument, she said.

At his death in 1908, Queniaux left in his will a painting of camellias Courbet, in its center, a red flower open in abundance. Camellias were strongly associated with courtesans at the time thanks to Dumas' novel "The Lady with Camellias", which was adapted to Verdi's opera "La Traviata".

"What better tribute from the artist and his boss to Constance?" Aubenas said it would be a gift from Halil Sherif Pasha. Born in Cairo, Pasha was a renowned collector and art player from a Turkish-Albanian family in present-day northern Greece.

He commissioned a series of major works to Eugene Delacroix, including "The Women of Algiers" and the equally iconic and extravagant depiction of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres from a harem, "The Turkish Bath ".