In 1866, maverick French artist Gustave Courbet painted one of the most daring and explicit images in the history of art, 'L'Origine du monde' (The Origin of the World). The scandalous painting was kept hidden for a century and a half. As the first artist authorized by the Orsay Museum to recreate The Origin of the World, Lilianne Milgrom was inspired to share the painting's riveting, clandestine history with readers beyond the confines of the art world.