Depictions of the Transcendent in 19th-Century French Realist Paintings

     Joan of Arc was presented to the Salon in 1880 where it was widely accepted by viewers. The depiction of Joan of Arc began to be a popular subject matter. She was a normal teenage girl from the village of Domremy who received a divine call to fight. Her identity became associated with someone who could communicate with God and with divine beings. The literature around Bastien-Lepage’s painting of Joan of Arc has been heavily focused on the saints and spiritual presences behind her. Many would argue and speculate of the existence of the spirits in a naturalistic scene. Bastien-Lepage was known to be interested in the Pre-Raphaelite art movement which is characterized by photographic realism in addition to mysticism and biblical subjects. The idea that transcendent forces can appear in realist art was a representation that many other French 19th-century artists found to be fascinating subject matter. These painters have been particularly interested in depicting spiritual encounters with naturalistic scenes of biblical narratives. The clash of realism with the supernatural subject matter invokes a contrast of what is reality and what is false. The following artistic representations of divine experiences are an invitation for the viewer to encounter the weight of a spiritual voice, just as Joan did in Bastien-Lepage’s painting.

Jules Bastien-Lepage, Joan of Arc, 1879

Oil on canvas, 100 x 110 in, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 89.21.1

Jules Bastien-Lepage depicts Joan of Arc, as a bewildered young teenage girl in her cottage in Domremy, France. She is leaning against a tree in her garden with her arm extended outward as if in a daze. Hovering behind her in the overgrown trees, are the Saints Michael, Margaret, and Catherine. They are communicated to be spiritual presences by their faint white draping with hints of gold in the halo and in the bodies themselves. The scene of a lush garden and naturalistic peasant life is greeted with saints as a collision of the supernatural. 

Jules Bastien-Lepage depicts Joan of Arc, as a bewildered young teenage girl in her cottage in Domremy, France. She is leaning against a tree in her garden with her arm extended outward as if in a daze. Hovering behind her in the overgrown trees, are the Saints Michael, Margaret, and Catherine. They are communicated to be spiritual presences by their faint white draping with hints of gold in the halo and in the bodies themselves. The scene of a lush garden and naturalistic peasant life is greeted with saints as a collision of the supernatural. 

Edouard Manet, Dead Christ with Angels, 1864

Oil on canvas, 70 ⅝ x 59 in, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 29.100.51  

Edouard Manet captures the scene of Jesus where two angels are tending to His wounds following his

Crucifixion. The quality of the painting is rather atmospheric and intimate which critics found to be too

earthly for the spirituality of the subject matter. Manet was often accused of painting dirt which is likely

due to the backdrop of black, blue, and brown. In addition, the use of dirt adds to Jesus being depicted

as cadaverous. Christ’s body was also denounced by critics for its realist approach when He is a

holy figure and he is resembling a corpse. 

Camille Corot, Hagar in the Wilderness, 1835

Oil on canvas, 71 x 106 1/2 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 38.64

This painting was one of four that Corot exhibited in the mid 19th century. It depicts the story of the

servant Hagar and the child Ishmael as Ishmael is dying under the sun and from starvation. They were

driven out to the desert of Beersheba where the landscape is illustrated with realist intentions. The desert

is seen as bone dry and idealized as this setting for the narrative of Hagar and Ishmael. The entrance of the

angel is a moment of salvation and includes a transcendent element to the naturalistic landscape. 

Alexandre Cabanel, Birth of Venus, 1863

Oil on canvas, 41 3/4 x 71 7/8 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 94.24.1 

Cabanel’s Birth of Venus involves a composition of a woman gracefully modeling on the ocean which

is more idealist. However, the nature to which the subject matter is rendered is in a realist fashion.

Cabanel paints Venus with an ethereal palette and the ocean with rich blues that are naturalistic to the

setting. The introduction of the angels adds a spiritual level to the reality of the scene. The mythological

elements of the piece are added in order to better understand a level of spirituality. It adds to the narrative

and the transcendent voices involved. 

Jules Bastien Lepage, Annunciation to the Sheperds, 1875

Oil on canvas, 147.9 x 115.2 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Accession Number 486-2

Jules Bastien-Lepage approaches this work with a building on his tradition of mixing the realistic with

the supernatural. In painting the shepherds, he wanted to depict them as natural as possible so he asked

his parents to obtain fleece coats in order to accurately represent the rural realism of a shepherd. The

appearance of the angel is a moment of light within the darkened landscape that gestures to the

spirituality in the scene. Bastien-Lepage creates a paradox once again between what is naturalistic to the

setting and how that interacts with the entrance of a transcendent force. 

William Adolphe-Bouguereau, Pieta, 1876

Oil on canvas, 90 1/2 x 58 1/4 in., Art Renewal Center

Bourguereau’s depiction is one of deep devastation and a personal loss. The dynamics from the canvas

are created through the artist’s own personal capturing of emotion caused by the death of his eldest son

Georges. The piece itself enforces ethereal angels that are each showing different responses that are

human and naturalistic. It shows a death of Christ that is realistically rendered while not idealizing the

terrible event. He valued techniques that were traditional in achieving realistic depictions of the human

state while incorporating other-wordly elements.