Edgar Degas, Interior (aka The Rape), 1868-69

In this scene a half-dressed girl turns her back to a man blocking the door to the bedroom. Escape seems impossible. The girl appears to be in the act of undressing; her clothes are strewn about. The bed is still made, which suggests that a rape is about to take place, yet blood on the corner of the bed hints that some violence has already happened. We are left to assume that she is a prostitute (probably not her first choice for an occupation) and he is a paying john.

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