Le Viol

Le Viol was inspired by the news of the first kidnapping case in the Netherlands in which the kidnapper asked for ransom. The five year old Caroline Pessers from Waalre had been taken by a 19 year old metal worker from Eindhoven. He had demanded 100.000 GLD for her return. The perpetrator later admitted he had strangled Caroline to death in a panick in a old barn in Vessum ten kilometer from her home. The police dug up her body 100 meters from the barn.

The painting is considered an important painting in Constant's oeuvre; it shows his transition from New Babylon to the Late Period. After finishing it, Constant was somewhat shocked by the result: he felt that he had incorporated too much reality into it. Fanny Kelk, a close friend of Constant, said she thought it was beautiful. This kept Constant from destroying it — he ended up giving the painting to her. Inspired by her words, Constant allowed reality to seep even further into his paintings.