And the artist, painting quickly,
Paints until the light grows sickly.
Starts and lingers,
Parts tired fingers.
When at last the work was ended,
All the critics called it “splendid.”
Fame and honors
Came as donors.
Questions to help the pupil understand the picture. How did Madame Lebrun paint this picture of herself? Who came running into the room? Why do you think the mother was glad she came? What made her think of painting her daughter, too? What is the color of her daughter’s hair? her eyes? What is the daughter’s name? What did she like to do? What is the color of her dress? of her mother’s? Why should she be so proud of her mother?
The story of the artist. Madame Lebrun began to draw and paint when she was not as old as the little daughter we see in the picture. Her father was her teacher. One day when she was only seven years old she surprised him by drawing a picture of a man with a long beard, which was so good that he said, “You will be a great painter, my child, if ever there has been one.” She always remembered this, and when she was sent away to the convent to school she drew just as much and as often as she could. Her notebooks were full of drawings which were so well done they were kept in the convent to show to visitors.