'A Nun', Henriette Browne

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The triangular composition and the lowered eyes of the nun give this painting a strangely formal quality. When it was shown in London in 1866 it was praised for the ‘very high conception of purity and piety which it embodies.’

The artist was born in Paris and exhibited frequently at the Paris Salon. Her religious subjects, including convent scenes and children preparing for their first communion, achieved extraordinary success with both French and English patrons.