From the film-maker:

The underlying theme of this painting is loss of innocence. Peronneau painted a series depicting the innocence and fragility of the child juxtaposed with the harsh cruelty and reality of not only nature but adulthood, but life in general. This concept fascinated me from the off set, finding the contrast between what we consider to be embodiment of innocence (the child) compared and contrasted with a greater, perhaps unperceived threat (the animal) that not only looms but is inevitable, in the greater scheme of things, as well as also being present within all of all- the animal inside as it were.

Mervyn Lewis

A piece inspired by Jean-Baptiste Peronneau, Girl With A Kitten ,1745