Sex Slave? Or Matisse’s Muse?

What’s in a yacht’s name? Fodder for the final debate between Connecticut’s two main candidates for governor.

The candidates — Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Republican Tom Foley — really did argue about the name of Foley’s yacht — and the use of the feminine form in fine art — in the debate, which was aired live Sunday morning on WTNH.

For Malloy, Foley’s yacht 116-foot-long motor yacht Sunday became not just a convenient way to remind voters of Foley’s extreme wealth, but also an opportunity to try to cast him as … a pervert.

First Malloy repeated criticism of Foley for owning such an expensive yacht while not paying any federal income taxes for two years and not releasing his state returns. (Foley has responded that he hadn’t realized investment income those years.) Malloy also criticized Foley for registering the yacht abroad instead of in Connecticut and paying taxes on it.

“You fault him for having a yacht?” asked WTNH political reporter Mark Davis, who moderated the debate and asked questions along with the Associated Press’s Susan Haigh. ​“We have hundreds of people on the Shoreline making their living servicing yachts.”

“Not too many people have a $5 million yacht and don’t pay taxes two years in a row … and registered in another country … and named after a sex slave,” Malloy responded.

The 116-foot-long motor yacht is named ​“Odalisque.”

“The governor’s obviously not going after the boat owners’ vote,” Foley responded, before noting that Malloy once owned back taxeson a boat (named ​“Sapphire,” the gemstone) stored on his property. ​“At least I pay my bills,” Foley quipped.

He then described Odalisque as a figure commonly used in art, such as in a Matisse painting (above).

“So it’s a highbrow name?” moderator Davis asked.

“No. I think it’s a very nice name,” Foley said. He said boats have historically been considered female. ​“Many people name their boats after women and something feminine. Odalisque really means a beautiful woman or a beautiful thing in the art world.”

“Do you really think it’s appropriate to have a boat named after a sex slave?” Malloy persisted.

It’s not named after a sex slave, Foley responded.

The debate over Odalisque has previously taken place in the art world, not the Connecticut political arena. Here’s one art critic’s take on that debate, titled ​“The Odalisque: Celebration of the Female Form or Misogyny?”

WTNH plans to post a video of the debate on its website at some point Sunday.