Provoking Fidelity (Primary Title)
A Lady Holding a Dog (Former Title)
Marc-Antoine Parelle, French, 1735 - 1793 (Artist)
Parelle’s modestly sized painting with its suggestively
immodest theme enjoyed certain popularity at the end
of the reign of Louis XV. The printmaker Louis Marin
Bonnet reproduced this bust portrait of a young woman
and a tiny dog basking in mutual affection, and copies
of the engraving were popular with buyers as far away
as London. The woman’s lace headdress and the
revealing neckline of her dress indicate that she is a
courtesan. By this time, artists frequently represented
the innocent love and playful interactions between
courtesans and their pet dogs as an emblem of fidelity,
although an ironic one considering the women’s roles
as mistresses to their courtly benefactors. Parelle likely
intended this sentimental genre scene for public
exhibition, exploiting the commercial appeal of the
image’s cheeky eroticism and carefree treatment of
daily life that evoked the libertine spirit of the period.
The Jordan and Thomas A. Saunders III Collection
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
