Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/357

258 trait which were not words of praise, and two years later, in 1855, Madame O'Connell reached the height of her talent. "A Faunesse," as it was called, in the exposition of that year, was a remarkable work, and thus described by Barty:

"A strong and beautiful young woman was seated near a spring, where beneath the shade of the chestnut trees the water lilies spread themselves out upon the stream which flowed forth. She was nude and her flesh palpitated beneath the caresses of the sun. With feminine caprice she wore a bracelet of pearls of the style of the gold workers of the Renaissance. Her black hair had lights of golden brown upon it, and she opened her great brown eyes with an expression of indifference. A half smile played upon her rosy lips and lessened the oval of the face like that of the ’Dancing Faun.’ The whole effect of the lines of the figure was bold and gave an appearance of youth, the extremities were studiously finished, the skin was fine, and the whole tournure elegant. It was a Faunesse of Fontainebleau of the time of the Valois."

Mme. O'Connell then executed several fine portraits—two of Rachel, one of M. O'Connell, others of Charles Edward and Théophile Gautier, which were likened to works of Vandyck, and a portrait in crayon of herself which was a chef-d’œuvre. She excelled in rendering passionate natures; she found in her palette the secret of that pallor which spreads itself over the faces of those devoted to study—the fatigues of days and nights without sleep; she knew how to kindle the feverish light in the