aimée 1

Yvonne Beauvais... 

est née le 16 juillet 1901 à Cossé-en-Champagne, diocèse de Laval. 

Orpheline de père à 3 ans, Yvonne est confiée à ses grands-parents maternels, tandis que sa mère prend un poste de directrice d'école. Sa grand-mère lui apprend à mieux connaître Jésus, et l'initie au mystère de l’eucharistie: "Un jour dans une église, grand-mère me fit faire un acte d'adoration et une communion spirituelle". 

Cela éveille en elle, dès ses 6 ans, un désir ardent de s'unir à Jésus : "Chaque fois que je passais devant une église, je Lui disais : « Petit Jésus, sors de ton tabernacle et viens dans mon cœur."

Après Argentan de 1907 à 1909... 

Yvonne suit sa maman à Toul de 1909 à 1913. 

C'est pendant ce séjour, le 30 décembre 1910, qu'elle fait sa première communion. 

Elle dira: "Après avoir reçu Jésus-Hostie, mon bonheur fut si grand que je ne savais que dire à l'hôte de mon cœur: je t'aime avec toutes mes forces, toute mon âme, je t'appartiens totalement. Et j'ai senti qu'Il me prenait tout entière." 

Dans la petite chapelle de la Barouillère à Paris... 

elle promet ce jour même de prier spécialement pour les prêtres. 

Le surlendemain de sa première communion, Yvonne s'engage par un "pacte" écrit de son sang, et qui témoigne de la radicalité de son engagement:

Ô mon petit Jésus

Je me donne à Toi entièrement et pour toujours

Je voudrai toujours ce que Tu voudras

Je ferai tout ce que Tu me diras de faire

Je ne vivrai que pour Toi

Je travaillerai en silence

Et si Tu le veux, je souffrirai beaucoup

en silence

Je te supplie de me faire devenir sainte

Une très grande sainte, une martyre

Fais moi être fidèle toujours

Je veux sauver beaucoup d'âmes

Et T'aimer plus que tout le monde

Mais je veux être aussi toute petite

afin de Te donner plus de gloire

Je veux te posséder, mon petit Jesus

et te rayonner

Je veux n'être qu'à Toi

mais je veux surtout Ta Volonté

Ta petite Yvonne

1er janvier 1910

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After touring Europe and America to great success... 

the entirety of Tissot's Life of Christ series was purchased by the Brooklyn Museum in 1900... 

where they have stayed ever since. 

Alongside the 340+ gouache color paintings that make up the primary body of this series, Tissot also included over a hundred pen and ink contextual drawings throughout his Gospel publication. These too have been preserved as part of the Brooklyn Museum's collection.

The presentation or gallery linked HERE is organized with the full color paintings first. They are divided into the major sections given in Tissot's Gospel and generally follow the chronology given in Dolkhart's The Life of Christ and Tissot's original publication. Next are as many of the supplementary illustrations as could be located, organized by subject category. 

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Though certainly not immune to all forms of criticism... 

Tissot sought to create a vision of the Gospels that resembled the world of Jesus's time as closely he could witness it. Modern in his style, attentive to detail, and original in his depictions of previously unrepresented scenes, Tissot embraced the core elements of the Christian artistic and historic traditions, inviting the input of both Jewish and Christian scholars to aid his work... 

while also desiring that a new, recovered picture of Jesus' life might bring the message of God's mercy and loving sacrifice to the hearts of his audience.

Though Tissot's Life of Christ has almost entirely disappeared from the present day's social memory... 

its impact upon the western imagination can be felt in the dramatic shift of almost all subsequent depictions of the holy land. In general, the west's perception of biblical Palestine shifted closer to Tissot's semi-historical vision rather than simply dressing the story in western clothes. 

For an example of this trend... 

many recent, popular pieces of art and cinema have likely drawn their inspiration directly from Tissot's vision. Perhaps most recognizable instance is the design of the Hebrew Ark of the Covenant used for the movie Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). 

Another instance might be the similarity of many Life of Christ scenes to artist Harry Anderson's paintings for the Church of Latter Day Saints (1960s), images familiar to Mormons around the globe for their frequent use as illustrations in Mormon religious texts. 

Other films that have been credited for referencing Tissot include "From the Manger to the Cross (1912), William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959), and Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth (1977)".

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Tissot's massive project... 

netted him immense financial reward and expressly positive reviews from the general public. 

At the same time, however, The Life of Christ series has been harshly critiqued by Tissot's artistic peers, present day art critics, and even the journalists who announced Tissot's death in the papers.

Correggio

Some of the intellectual artists among the Impressionists and Realists dismissed Tissot's series as 'revolting' and mediocrely supernatural. This criticism seems at least somewhat undeserved, as Tissot's approach to the genre of religious painting had consciously broken away from the limitations of past European representations. 

Tissot saw the former works of the European masters as noble in their intent, but fundamentally limited. As they would always be half-blind depictions draped in the clothing and 'fancies' of their own homelands. 

Furthermore, Tissot's style of conveying the supernatural has become one of the most identifiable and beloved characteristics of the series.

Tissot

Even contemporary critics and academics still find fault with Tissot's project. 

For one critic, Tissot's supernatural elements are mere 'spooky illustrations'. The first wave of Tissot historians almost entirely ignored this period of religious artwork, treating it as a trivial indulgence at the end of a great artist's life. 

Furthermore, for many of the contributors to Shofar, a journal of Jewish Studies, Tissot's work remains intrinsically unapproachable or at least historically inaccurate for presuming that the appearance and dress of people in the Holy Land in the 1890s would look at all like the context of Jesus' time. 

Little recognition seems to be given, however, to the the relative difference between Tissot's style and that of almost every western Christian artist before him. (see below for an example of the stylistic change seen in Tissot's treatment of the Nativity, contrasted with the scene painted by Correggio).

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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.

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