Lot Essay
This gouache is likely a study for a stained glass window that LaFarge completed in 1887 for the chapel at the Caldwell House in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1889 LaFarge recreated this image of St. Elizabeth for a window in All Souls' Church, Roxbury, Massachusetts.
St. Elizabeth dedicated her life to helping the poor and is portrayed in her typical pose holding flowers. Legend has it that she was once confronted while carrying loaves of bread to the poor. When she is questioned regarding the contents of her parcel, she responds "Only flowers, my lord." Miraculously the loaves turn to flowers and she is allowed to pass without incident.
This gouache will be included in the forthcoming publication by Yale University Press of the late Henry La Farge's catalogue raisonné of the works of John La Farge, completed by James L. Yarnall and Mary A. La Farge.
St. Elizabeth dedicated her life to helping the poor and is portrayed in her typical pose holding flowers. Legend has it that she was once confronted while carrying loaves of bread to the poor. When she is questioned regarding the contents of her parcel, she responds "Only flowers, my lord." Miraculously the loaves turn to flowers and she is allowed to pass without incident.
This gouache will be included in the forthcoming publication by Yale University Press of the late Henry La Farge's catalogue raisonné of the works of John La Farge, completed by James L. Yarnall and Mary A. La Farge.