PATER, Jean Baptiste Joseph
(b. 1695, Valenciennes, d. 1736, Paris)

Mme. de Bouvillon Tempts Fate by Asking Ragotin to Search for a Flea

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Oil on canvas, 28 x 38 cm
Schloss Sanssouci, Berlin

Pater made fourteen Hogarthian illustrations (all in Berlin) of a burlesque tale, Ragotin, by Paul Scarron (1610-1660). This Picaresque cycle is full of fun, telling of the amorous adventures and misadventures of its handsome hero.

This painting, Mme. de Bouvillon Tempts Fate by Asking Ragotin to Search for a Flea, belongs to this cycle.