Luncheon on the Grass

In the lower-left corner of the notorious painting, in the wet ground behind the still life, sits a tiny frog. Its position matches almost exactly where Manet signed. In French slang, grenouille (frog) referred to loose women and to bohemian models — and Manet was condemned for painting a naked woman among clothed men. The frog is his private, defiant signature: a joke at the Salon jury's expense. They rejected the painting. Now at Musée d'Orsay, Paris @museeorsay