Rosa Bonheur

A French painter, sculptor, and illustrator, Rosa Bonheur specialized in rural and animal subjects. She was awarded the Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honor and was made Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic and of the Order of Leopold of Belgium. She trained alongside her father, the artist Raymond Bonheur, and in the workshop of Léon Cogniet. She submitted her works to the Paris Salons, earning a third-place medal in the 1845 edition and first place in the 1848 edition. Bonheur was a protégé of Queen Victoria of England, which led to numerous commissions from the English aristocracy. Her work shows an evolution from conventional and academic principles in her early canvases, influenced by Constant Troyon, to an Impressionist language in her later paintings. (Balbás Ibáñez, S., Encyclopedia of the Friends of the Prado Museum Foundation, 2006, Vol. II, p. 525)