Alfred Stevens (1823-1906), The Parisian Sphinx, 1875-1877, oil on canvas, 72 x 52 cm. Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp - Beside being renowned for its realism and luminism, The Parisian Sphinx has been described as enigmatic, just as its title. Critics agree in that the apparently realistic painting conceals a hidden meaning. Many point to the “hidden dangers behind feminine tenderness,” and to the figure of the femme fatale. Read more - Mysterious Art Century Instagram-Facebook-Twitter-Pinterest
Alfred Stevens (1823-1906) “What is Called Vagrancy” (1854) Oil on canvas Realism Located in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris France
Thispainting is representative of the early part of Stevens’ career when he was keen on representing the squalor of the time.
Emperor Napoleon III thought the contents so shocking (a woman giving a beggar money to prevent her being locked up with her children by the police, which was the fate of vagrants without income) that he asked to have it removed.
The 1810 Penal Code considered begging a crime and vagrancy likewise. While beggars were not clearly defined, vagrants were clearly identified as “unscrupulous people [i.e.] those who have no certain place of residence or means of subsistence and who do not exercise any trade or profession.”
During the Second Rep1ublic, the electoral law of May 31, 1850 further alienated beggars and vagabonds, separating the homeless from the rest of society by prolonging the period of residence required in order to be able to vote in a particular commune or canton, from six months (law of March 15, 1849) to three years.
