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- Ary Scheffer (1795 - 1858)
- The Sister of Mercy
- France
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- Date: 1830 - 1831
- Object Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Image size: 31 x 39 cm
- Inv: P616
- Location: East Galleries III Staircase
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- Description
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- Probably exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1831 when it was accompanied in the catalogue by a verse from a song, 'Les deux soeurs de charité', by Scheffer’s friend Pierre-Jean Béranger. The charitable order of the Sisters of Mercy was founded by Saint Vincent de Paul in 1634. Religion was the subject of much political controversy in France in the nineteenth century between the Right, generally supportive of the traditional Catholic faith, and the Left, generally supportive of secular policies. Scenes like this would therefore be regarded by many contemporaries as overt political statements (see also Merle, 'Reading the Bible', P597).