Carolus-Duran, The Merrymakers, 1870

Not much credit goes to the wildly talented Carolus Duran, teacher of world-renowned John Singer Sargent. In The Merrymakers, the brushwork and attention to facial detail shows where Sargent got his style. If I didn't know any better, I would say this painting was done by the hands of Sargent.

A comment on society and a view on women of La Belle Epoque, three women sit down to lunch with an infant. The entire meal seems to serve for the child as they provide her with food, origami toy animals, and a parrot. The baby girl draws in all focus except for the woman chuckling up to the ceiling. The chilling part of this painting is what lays ahead in the baby's future. While the women all shield her from her surroundings, just a hand breaking away from the pastels of their dress, they also will raise her and keep her away from a frivolous lifestyle until she develops into a young adult and is encouraged to marry wealthy. The bread and wine at the table, serving as a Christian religious reminder calls for their 'completely kosher' setting. While the baby wears tans and white, she also has no white in her eyes and wears a delicate red ribbon around her bonnet. Her almost demonic eyes give her perfectly tubby face a dark side.

Her parental figures want to give her the perfect little girl upbringing with happiness and toys and eclairs galore, but drink wine and enjoy the joy that comes in tantalizing animals. It seems an odd detail to blatantly show the other grey woman's wedding ring, but hide the younger tan females hands. Maybe an illegitimate child that will be used to serve as a social redeemer for the family, they will raise her with nurses, toys and nice clothing until she can find a wealthy 40-year-old man to provide.