Two Children Teasing a Cat
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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Two Children Teasing a Cat
- Artist: Annibale Carracci (Italian, Bologna 1560–1609 Rome)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 26 x 35 in. (66 x 88.9 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Gwynne Andrews Fund, and Bequests of Collis P. Huntington and Ogden Mills, by exchange, 1994
- Object Number: 1994.142
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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Annibale Carracci
Pietro Stefanoni
ca. 1591
Annibale Carracci
before 1593
Annibale Carracci
1606
Annibale Carracci
1582
Annibale Carracci
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