tissot 6

Many months of this work passed... 

and yet little to no painting would be done while Tissot was in the Middle East. 

Most of his actual painting would be completed between his studios in Paris and the Chateau de Buillon, a familial estate in the French countryside. Though he relied on photographs, miniature sketches, and lasting memories from the trips, Tissot also humbly credits the visual inspiration he received from prayerfully meditating over each subject. 

Having only a vague sketch of charcoal lines and ovals before him, Tissot would pray and eventually 'see' the religious event laid out before his eyes – the characters, the clothing, the actions, etc. – and then copy what he saw as best as he could manage. 

Many of the journalists who reported on Tissot's work admired him for this unique 'hyperesthesia'.

In total, the creation of this project would stretch over ten years... 

with Tissot working feverishly to complete 500+ compositions, at a rate of around one per week. 

His completed series would reach its grand conclusion in three massively acclaimed exhibitions in Paris, London, and New York, where wealthy men and women were often seen to enter on their feet and eventually end up crawling on their knees as they moved through the narrative across hundreds of paintings. 

Tissot's series also found immense success in the form of a widely popular synthesized version of the four Gospels that was accompanied by prints of Tissot's paintings, drawings, and historical notes. The more expensive French edition of the Gospel came first, whose publication rights earned Tissot one million francs alone – which is, by my calculations, well over 3.4 million Euro in today's currency. 

The English language edition - known interchangeably as The Life of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Life of Christ, or most vaguely as "Tissot's Bible" - became a beloved and accessible piece of instruction for Christians across the English-speaking world.

Tissot made a third and final trip to the Middle East in 1896... 

to begin working on his next project: illustrating scenes from the Old Testament. 

Though he completed over 100 paintings for this project from 1896-1902, Tissot's labors came to a close when he died suddenly at the Chateau de Buillon in Doubs, France on the 8th of August 1902. 

In 1904, a book of these final paintings from the Old Testament, similar to The Life of Christ, was published.

[bron]