Eugenia Martinez Vallejo, Nude: otherwise known as ‘Spanish aristocracy making fun of chubby six-year-olds.’

This hefty masterpiece is titled “La Monstrua Desnuda” (The Nude Monster) in Spanish. The subject, Eugenia Martinez Vallejo, was six years old at the time of this painting and reportedly weighed 170 pounds. Let me make that clearer-- a royal dude commissioned a painting of a chunky six-year-old and titled it “The Nude Monster.” Rude.

That royal dude was King Carlos II of Spain, who was incredibly fond of hermaphrodites, conjoined twins, and other physical oddities. Eugenia was a natural fit for exhibition within his palace and probably reaped the benefits of the lavish court lifestyle. This sort of “live-in freak” was not unusual at the time-- the Spanish monarchy was well known for hosting a number of other physically unusual subjects for the amusement of the palace’s high-flyers. Pretty much the sole purpose of this and its sister painting (starring Eugenia fully clothed) was for the aristocracy to gawk at Eugenia’s extensive child-rolls. 

The presence of grapes and grape leaves within the painting is commonly held to be an allusion to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. As if the child's nudity wasn't bad enough, now they’re giving her booze? 

In terms of how exactly little Eugenia got so large, it has been widely speculated that she suffered from a hormonal disorder known as Prader-Willi syndrome. Dr. Prader himself reportedly examined the painting and concluded that this may well have been the case. We’ve got your back Eugenia-- you are NOT a monster.