A Visual Chronicle of Parish Life: Day 3

T IS A GREAT TRAGEDY that the habits of the Daughters of Charity have gone by the wayside. One finds them in the photographs of Henri Cartier Bresson, Jimmy Stewart films, French paintings…they are everywhere!

There is something about the way that their veil catches the light that makes them irresistible to visual artists. It is interesting to note that the artist who created this painting, Henriette Browne, was most known for her paintings of exotic oriental theme. Apparently, the coronette of these nuns made them exotic enough to be worthy of her attention. Click on the image to view it larger.

“Daughters of Charity” by Henriette Browne, 1859.