Two Children Teasing a Cat (c.1587) Annibale Caracci. In this lively genre scene, Annibale Carracci captures a mischievous moment as two children play with a clearly irritated cat. A crayfish clamps onto the cat’s ear, adding to its distress, and it seems only a matter of time before the girl’s hand is met with claws. Like many scenes of everyday life from this period, the painting likely carries a moral message. As the Met’s caption suggests, it might be a visual warning to “let sleeping dogs lie” or perhaps, more pointedly, “if you mess with the bull, you get the horns.”