Auguste Renoir's <em>Bal au Moulin de la Galette</em> (1876) depicts a joyous scene of working-class Parisians dancing, socialising and flirting in Montmartre. Viewing such a delightful scene - often claimed to be the most beautiful painting of the period – one can be forgiven for assuming that life in late 19th century Paris was one of pleasure and enjoyment. But how true a reflection was that?<br><br>Federico Zandomenighi chose to work on the same subject from a markedly different perspective. In his painting, <em>Moulin de la Galette</em> (1878), there are dubious figures: prostitutes, drunks and the poor. In the same vein, <em>Moulin</em> was painted by Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and others as an unwelcoming, dark and sinful establishment in a rather notorious location.<br><br>Montmartre was a place with symbolic social importance for France in the late 19th century. At the time Renoir completed his masterpiece, Paris was still recovering from the wounds inflicted by the Commune of 1871. Montmartre had developed a reputation for flourishing leftist politics, having been a stronghold of the Commune. Moreover, prostitution, which had often become a financial necessity for women of that time, was rife in the neighbourhood, which was also the centre of nightlife.<br><br>The reason as to why Renoir chose to depict such a place as a delightful spectacle is still open to question. Could it have been the actual reality through the eyes of a habitué, or was it the dream of a better life?<br>