This painted sketch was made by Vimont Edouard (c. 1846-1930) under commission for the Rosny-sous-Bois church in the vicinity of Paris. Saint Genevieve is the subject of the artwork, but the title is not clear about which Saint Genevieve is depicted, as there are multiple. Since the artwork was commissioned for a church in Paris, a prime candidate would be Saint Genevieve of Nanterre (d. 500)—the patron saint of Paris who reportedly supported the Parisian populace with encouragement and prophesies during the time of Atilla of the Hun (d. 453) and Childeric I of the Franks (d. 481/482). One could imagine that the painting was set in her youthful years when she lived with her parents, for she allegedly did not move to Paris until after her mother and father died. On the other hand, Saint Genevieve of Nanterre was rarely described or depicted as lounging with animals in the wilderness. Instead, she was quite active, reportedly traveling widely and frequently interacting with church and government leadership. This brings us to another candidate for the saintly subject depicted in the artwork: Saint Genevieve of Brabant (c. 8th or 9th century). This later saint from medieval legend was said to have married a certain Count Siegfried, the ruler of Treves and Brabant. After Genevieve gave birth to a son named Schmerzenreich or Scherzenreich, Count Siegfried succumbed to suspicions that Genevieve had been unfaithful and that the newborn son was not his child. Overwhelmed by his fear and paranoia, Count Siegfried decided to condemn Genevieve of Brabant and her child to death. The two were arrested, but the executioners could not bring themselves to kill the innocent pair, and instead, they secretly released the saintly mother and child into the wilderness. Legend told that Genevieve and her son made a home within a cave in the Ardennes, living there for around six years with the help of the local wildlife—a guardian deer, in particular, provided for the mother and child. The forested landscape setting of the painting fits the Genevieve of Brabant story, but the artwork is missing prominent features of the story, like Genevieve’s son, the cave and the deer. Whatever the case, be it of Nanterre or Brabant, the painting depicts a Saint Genevieve of medieval legend.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine, translated by William Caxton (c. 1422-1491), and reprinted unabridged and in seven volumes by SSEL (2022).
- Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Fifth Edition) by David Farmer. Oxford University Press, 2011.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Genevieve
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Attila-king-of-the-Huns
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Childeric-I
- https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/petit-palais/oeuvres/esquisse-pour-l-eglise-de-rosny-sous-bois-sainte-genevieve#infos-principales
