The childhood of Pantagruel 

Curator: Look at this oddity. Here we have Gustave Doré's watercolor, "The Childhood of Pantagruel." Editor: First impression? It's unsettling. Like a Baroque fever dream. The baby's face… almost grotesque in its chubbiness, amidst a scene overflowing with… what are those, tiny farm animals? Curator: Indeed! Doré illustrates Rabelais's giant Pantagruel as an infant, surrounded not by teddy bears but by miniature livestock and his watchful, equally gigantic nurse. Think of the scale—Rabelais loved exaggerating to satirize societal norms. Editor: So the exaggeration isn’t just aesthetic, it’s thematic! The abundance of animals, that fleshy infant, even the almost garish coloring—is that Romanticism flirting with the grotesque? What is he communicating? Curator: I see it as Doré's playful approach. He takes a chapter of the old novels that deals with the nature versus nurture and portrays that the baby has no contact with his parents in his infancy so he connects to animal companions. Plus there's something deeply comforting in the gentle details, a narrative thread woven between humor and something a little darker. Look at the expression of the nanny. Editor: Ah, her drowsy expression softens the harshness. What about the composition, it seems conventional? Curator: It is built with the use of triangle as the bed is centered while the babysitter is at one vertex and baby is in another. However, I find the way Doré used watercolors fascinating. Light brushstrokes give the whole scene ethereal look as we are transported back in time and into this magical fairytale. Editor: Yes, the watercolor work gives the whole scene a delicate lightness. Almost a fragility that contrasts with the rather massive subject matter. I get now why I’m so fascinated. Curator: For me, "The Childhood of Pantagruel" is that strange lullaby from Doré himself, isn't it? A peek into his imagination, filtered through a classical satire. Editor: Exactly. A vibrant and bizarre exploration of childhood, shaped as much by the strange contours of Doré's vision.