"Madonna and Child"
Jean Fochit

Fochit had been commissioned to execute a Madonna and Child for the tomb of Etienne Chevalier, treasurer to King Charles VII of France. As luck would have it he completed the painting one week after Paris had passed its landmark "zero-tolerance" legislation regarding child pornography. The artist was consequently arrested and used as an example by the courts, sentenced to 30 years in the notorious Bastille. He hanged himself shortly after his incarceration there.

His model, Agnes Sorel, was given a 14-year sentence for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, procuring the use of a child for use in a pornographic setting, and operating a milk bar without a town license. Her child, Jean-Louis, was assigned to a foundling home where he perished of neglect.  

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Acquired in part by a grant from "Sacre Bleu!" - the French Moral Outrage Society.

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