January 2, 1873 - November 14, 1877
Therese in the cradle
Therese in the cradle, under the protection of his guardian angel.
Unsigned wash. A draft copy commented is retained.
Therese in the cradle
Unsigned painting of 110 x 166 cm
Therese in the cradle
late watercolor
Therese in her cradle, surrounded by her sisters Marie (13 years old), Pauline (11 years old), Léonie (9 years old) and Céline (soon to be 4 years old).
Drawing by Charles Jouvenot.
Baptism of Therese
Baptism of Therese at Notre-Dame d'Alençon on January 4, 1873.
Wash of Charles Jouvenot. We have an draft fragment for the character of Marie, and a draft copy commented for the whole.
Therese at Rose Taillé
Zélie Martin prays to Saint Joseph for the healing of little Thérèse, suffering from enteritis, while the nanny Rose Trimmed try to breastfeed.
Drawing by Charles Jouvenot.
The "Little Rose" farm, where Thérèse lived from March 16, 1873 to April 2, 1874.
Therese at Semallé in front of the house of his nurse Rose Taillé.
Wash drawing by Charles Jouvenot.
Therese at Semallé.
Therese in Alencon
Birthplace of Thérèse à Alençon, rue Saint-Blaise. Zélie Martin had set up her lace-making workshop there.
Anonymous wash (probably by Charles Jouvenot), never published.
Back to family
Unpublished wash.
Therese and her mother
Charcoal by Céline, 1902
Appeared in the 5th edition of Histoire d'une Ame. Little Thérèse is very similar to it. It is the little cherub that we have known. Mom is good there too. But she's a bit young, I took her daguerreotype portrait when she was 25. I tried to age it without succeeding perfectly. This double portrait underwent several major alterations before the result we have today, so we should not stick to the first editions. My favorable judgment relates to the present work.
Collection of Céline's artistic works
Little Thérèse goes to mass
Wash drawing by Charles Jouvenot.
In February 1875, Thérèse escaped from the house in torrential rain to go to mass. See his mother's letter from March 14, 1875.
Little Thérèse goes to mass
late watercolor
The Imps' Dream
Wash drawing by Charles Jouvenot.
"I don't have to tell you about my youth yet, but about the little four-year-old Elf. I remember a dream I must have had around that age and which was deeply engraved in my imagination. One night, I dreamed that I was going out to go for a walk alone in the garden. Arrived at the bottom of the steps that I had to climb to get there, I stopped, seized with fright. In front of me, near the arbor, was a barrel of lime and on this barrel two frightful little devils were dancing with surprising agility in spite of the irons which they had on their feet; suddenly they cast their blazing eyes on me, then at the same moment, looking much more frightened than I, They rushed to the bottom of the barrel and went to hide in the lingerie opposite. Seeing them so unbrave, I wanted to know what they were going to do and I approached the window. The poor imps were there, running. on the tables and not knowing how to escape my gaze; that Sometimes they approached the window, looking with a worried air to see if I was still there and still seeing me, they began to run again like desperate people. No doubt there is nothing extraordinary about this dream, however I believe that the Good Lord allowed me to remember it, in order to prove to myself that a soul in a state of grace has nothing to fear from the demons who are cowards, capable of fleeing from the gaze of a child..."
Ms A folio 10, v°
The family in the garden at Alençon
Unsigned draft
The account of practices with Céline
Wash drawing by Charles Jouvenot.
"The other day she was at the grocer's with Céline and Louise, she was talking about her practices and talking loudly with Céline; the lady said to Louise: "What does she mean, when she plays in the garden one only hears about practices? Ms. Gaucherin sticks her head out her window to try to understand what this debate on practices means..."
Ms A 11 r°
The account of practices with Céline
late watercolor
The vigil in Alençon
Charcoal by Pierre-Léon-Adolphe Annould
Therese and her grandmother
Unsigned draft
See here the portrait of his grandmother, Fanie Boureau marries Martin.
"Often during these long walks we met the poor and it was always little Thérèse who was in charge of bringing them alms, which she was very happy about; but often also Dad finding that the road was too long for his little queen , brought her home earlier than the others (to her great displeasure). So to console her, Céline filled her pretty little basket with daisies and gave them to her on the way back, but alas! the poor grandma found that her granddaughter had too much of it, so she took a good part of it for the Blessed Virgin... This did not please little Thérèse, but she was careful not to say anything about it, having taken the good habit of never complaining, even when what was hers was taken away from her, or when she was unjustly accused, she preferred to keep quiet and not apologize, this was not merit on her part, but a natural virtue... What a pity that this good disposition has vanished!..."
Ms A 11 v°
Mrs. Martin receives the last rites
Wash drawing by Charles Jouvenot
