Described as "the most puzzling of Degas's major works" (Reff 1976, p. 200), it depicts a tense confrontation by lamplight between a man and a partially undressed woman. The theatrical character of the scene has led art historians to seek a literary source for the composition, but none of the sources proposed has met with universal acceptance. Even the painting's title is uncertain; acquaintances of the artist referred to it either as Le Viol ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior_(Degas)