Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/505

384 terious charm and the possible dangers which the deep woods present to the childish mind. Mayer, Marie Françoise Constance. As early as 1806 this artist received a gold medal from the Paris Salon, awarded to her picture of "Venus and Love Asleep." Born 1775, died 1821. She studied under Suvée, Greuze, and Prud'hon. There are various accounts of the life of Mile. Mayer. That of M. Charles Guenllette is the authority followed here. It is probable that Mile. Mayer came under the influence of Prud'hon as early as 1802, possibly before that time.

Prud'hon, a sensitive man, absorbed in his art, had married at twenty a woman who had no sympathy with his ideals, and when she realized that he had no ambition, and was likely to be always poor, her temper got the better of any affection she had ever felt for him. Prud'hon, in humiliation and despair, lived in a solitude almost complete. It was with difficulty that Mile. Mayer persuaded this master to receive her as a pupil; but this being gained, both these painters had studios in the Sorbonne from 1809 to 1821. At the latter date all artists were obliged to vacate the Sorbonne ateliers to make room for some new department of instruction. Mile. Mayer had been for some time in a depressed condition, and her friends had been anxious about her. Whether leaving the Sorbonne had a tendency to increase her melancholy is not known, but her suicide came as a great surprise and shock to all who knew her, especially to Prud'hon, who survived her less than two years.