A Little Boy Lost 1920

Dorothy Lathrop made this piece, "A Little Boy Lost," sometime in the early twentieth century with ink on paper. Lathrop, during the late 19th and 20th centuries, made a name for herself as an illustrator and author. In this illustration, we see a young child, almost feral, with a spotted body suit, crouching before a massive, languid, and rather bored-looking leopard. In what appears to be a scene from the Jungle Book, one is struck by the vulnerability of the child. Here, Lathrop plays with gendered expectations of power and the gaze. She flips the script of an expected interaction with a wild animal, and instead, centers a certain tenderness. "A Little Boy Lost" asks us to confront themes of vulnerability and the power dynamics inherent in relationships. The work encourages us to consider our emotional responses to perceived innocence and potential danger.