Rosa was willing to walk miles in all kinds of weather, to sit hours in all kinds of uncomfortable positions, and to go without food, in order to draw a good picture of some animal. Now she began her study of animals in earnest. She went to all the country horse fairs, to the slaughter houses, and everywhere she could to study them.
Rosa never had very pretty clothes. She tells us herself that one day a parrot called after her, “Ha, ha! That hat!” Now that she was grown up she found she could not get about very easily in her long skirts. There were so many rough men in the packing houses and other places she must go to study that she got a permit to wear men’s clothing. Her hair was short anyway, and so with her blue working blouse and dark trousers she looked just like a man. Then no one noticed her as she went about, for they thought her only one of the workmen.
Her pictures became famous the world over. The first she exhibited was one of some little rabbits nibbling carrots. From all over the country she received gifts of fine horses and other animals for her to paint. Buffalo Bill once sent her two fine horses from Texas. She bought a farm, and had a large barn built where she could keep her animals. How proud her father was of her!
One day as she was working hard in her studio a servant came to tell her that the Empress Eugénie had come to see her. It was a great event when this royal lady came to the artist’s studio, and there was Rosa dressed in her old blue blouse covered with paint! She did not have time to slip it off, even, before the empress came in. They had a most delightful visit, however, and as the Empress Eugénie bent over and kissed Rosa Bonheur, she pinned the Cross of the Legion of Honor on the artist’s blue blouse. Rosa did not notice it until after the empress was gone. How pleased she must have been, for she was the first woman to receive that high honor.
Questions about the artist. Who painted this picture? In what country did she live? Who taught her to paint? What did her father do for a living? What could her mother do? Why was Rosa sometimes late to school? Where did they move? What kind of a house did they live in? Tell about the wild boar; the school for boys. Why did they move again? What happened here? Where were the children sent? Why did Rosa want to come back? Tell about Isidore and the lamb. What other pets did the children have? Where did they keep them? What did Rosa do while her father was away? What did they all like to do in the evening? Tell about the Saint Simon cap Rosa sometimes wore. How did she behave in school? What did she do that made them send her away? What trade did her father want her to learn? How did she succeed at this? What did she like to do? What kind of a teacher was Rosa? Where did she go to study animals? When she was older, why did she wear men’s clothes? What were some of the presents she received? Tell about the visit of Empress Eugénie. What did the empress give Rosa? Why was this such a great honor?
PENELOPE BOOTHBY OR THE MOB CAP
(Click on illustration for larger view.)