Under the influence of hygienist theories, painting and literature began in the late nineteenth century to explore the topic of the awakening of sexual maturity. Chrysalid, the title of the work by Pedro Sáenz, a painter from Málaga, alludes to the state preceding adulthood, so justifying the contemplation without moral qualms of the body of a pubescent girl who poses like a woman next to her toys.

G. Navarro, Carlos, Invitadas. Fragmentos sobre mujeres, ideología y artes plásticas en España (1833-1931), Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2020, p.189 nº 28