Fragonard's Girls

How's this for a rather strange painting? Jean-Honoré Fragonard's Two Girls on a Bed Playing with their Dogs (c. 1770) shows two very chunky women masquerading as innocent girls, one coyly displaying her vulva, the other sporting a bottom the size of a horse. Until the last century it was considered improper for budding artists to have female models for their life classes. Only men and boys were hired as models. So, my guess is that these "girls" are a pair of prostitutes Fragonard hired for his saucy painting and he wasn't aware how adult they appear. It comes up for grabs in Sotheby’s New York auction of Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture on 30 January 2014, with an estimated price tag of $6m to $8m (CLICK).