Émile Zola (detail)

The portrait of Émile Zola comprises two still-lifes. On the one hand, the wall decorations - a Japanese print, an engraving after Velázquez's The Topers, and a reproduction of Olympia (who turns her head towards Zola as if in gratitude - speak of Manet's "Japonisme" and hispanisme" as his sources. On the other, the masterly jumble of objects on the desk - porcelain inkpot, the sky-blue brochure that Zola had just written in Manet's defence - and the choice of one of Manet's favourite works of reference, Charles Blanc's L'Histoire des peintres, for Zola's reading-matter, constitute Manet's grateful homage to his friend.