Édouard Louis Dubufe. Portrait of Rosa Bonheur (the bull was painted by Bonheur) (1857). Versailles Palace. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
By Nina Heyn – Your Culture Scout,
There is a reason why the traditionally dressed Victorian lady in the portrait above is resting her hand on a bull instead of a chair or some other conventional prop. While the lady, Rosa Bonheur, was painted by the portraitist Édouard Louis Dubufe, Bonheur herself painted in the bull after deciding that a “boring chair” would not be appropriate for any description of her as an artist. And she could not have been more right.
