William Bouguereau
(French, 1825-1905)


Le Livre d'Heures (1867).
Oil on canvas.

The sitter holds a prayer book, echoing Bouguereau’s love for Raphael and his preference for a secular interpretation of a traditionally overt religious theme.

Books of Hours were illustrated prayer books, and from the medieval era onward, were commissioned by wealthy patrons for daily devotional use.

Bouguereau has taken this most traditional subject matter and made it his own, dressing his model in the clothing of a Romanticized Italian peasant.