A shepherdess

The subject has previously been identified as Joan of Arc Listening to the Voices, and it is conceivable that although the robed figure here differs considerably from Bastian-Lepage’s depiction of Joan on canvas, that he made the present model in preparation for his painting of the same title exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1880, and now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (89.21.1). This premise is supported by the work being executed towards the end of the artist's life. One of the few sculptures undertaken by him, the plaster is in the possession of descendants of the artist. The bronze is believed to be one of twelve cast from it. Another cast is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (M.3-19).