Carracci, Annibale (1560-1609)
Due bambini molestano un gatto (Two Children Teasing a Cat)
c.1587–1588
Oil on canvas, 66 x 88.9 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
With expressions of cruel delight, two children torment a cat with the pincers of a crayfish. The painting may illustrate an Italian proverb similar to “let sleeping dogs lie.” Painted with directness and spontaneity, this painting is among the earliest Italian genre paintings. It belonged to Cardinal Tommaso Ruffo (1663–1753), who also owned Velázquez’s Juan de Pareja, on view in a nearby gallery. (MET)