Degas’ Woman in a Tub, done circa 1883, shows another woman in a very natural position. She is kneeling in a shallow tub, looking down at her arm while cleaning it with a white cloth. This subject shows up in many different Japanese works, and it is unclear which one specifically inspired Degas to do this specific painting. A Japanese drawing that is very similar to it is Woman in a Tub, done in 1864, by either Utagawa Kunisada, a big deal Japanese artist, or a copy by a talented pupil. Regardless, it is easy to see the similarities between the two works. Both portray woman in a low tub cleaning themselves. The perspective at which the viewer sees the woman is pretty similar, but reversed between the two paintings. In Degas’ painting, the viewer sees more of the right side of her body (with a chair to the right of the painting) while in the Japanese drawing, the viewer sees more of the left side of her body (with some kind of a chair or bench to the left of the painting). There are some obvious differences as well. Degas’ is ornately colored, while the Japanese Woman in a Tub is just a very light line drawing. However, what is the most significant difference is the way in which the bodies of the two women are portrayed. Both are in a pretty normal, casual body position. Degas’, however, just goes so much further in portraying the candidness of the woman. His figure is more free and spontaneous. Her face is looking downwards in a very modest natural gaze. It truly does seem as if Degas were “looking through a keyhole” at this woman when painting her. She seems so natural and uninhibited; Degas was a master of capturing a candid, exact moment in time such as this. The pose of the woman in the Japanese drawing lacks this spontaneous quality. Her body seems quite rigid and unnatural. She is not idealized, as a nude in earlier Western art would have been. However, she is not completely natural either. Her face lacks expression, her arms are shapes lacking much definition, and her body is relatively straight and shapeless. Degas truly far exceeds whatever standards of Japanese art he was trying to meet, and captures the woman’s movement and truthfulness exactly.