Painting #C15 - The Governess

The Governess / The Poor Teacher
- Richard Redgrave (1804-1888, British)
- oil (71 × 91.5 cm) in 1844
- Victoria & Albert Museum (London)

In the Victorian era, many a young educated lady spent n years of her youth as a resident governess to home-educate young girls.
        The painting above shows a sad one, in black, who could not attend the funeral ceremony of somebody close.

The governess is a familiar figure in Victorian literature: Emma, Jane Eyre, Becky Sharp (Vanity Fair), Mary Morstan (who was married to Dr. Watson in The Sign of Four, The Sherlock Holmes series)……

Madame Curie studied hard to become a scientist,
after being a governess for 6 years.

And, of course, forget not Sister Maria .....