St Clare
Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale, ROI, RWS, 1872-1945
Water-colour illustration / colour plate
1917
Source: Brickdale 181
Lines printed with the title: "St Clare in the garden of one of the Monastries she founded after she had given her fortune to the poor." There is no account of St Clare in the collection, so this last plate simply suggests the quiet beauty of another way of life for a woman, a totally selfless one devoted to caring, charity, contemplation. Sisterhoods had certainly risen in profile during the later Victorian period. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links. See related material below.]
Image download, text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee.