Therese's sister Celine painted this picture in 1925, the year Therese was canonized. As the cause for her canonization had gained momentum in the years before, Celine had been helpful in giving the people of the world a picture of Therese.

This paining was based on a 1912 drawing (see above) she had done which she called "the important portrait," the one that was "published everywhere." The gesture of caressing the cross with roses was something Therese had done on her death bed and "showed the personality and spirituality of the Saint" according to Celine.

Celine had worked very hard to get that gesture just right. Of this color painting, Celine said, "I made it by avoiding the flaws I had noticed in the same portrait in drawing: the size of the eyes and the fitting of the right arm near the elbow. I put my whole heart into it. One day when it was finished, I looked at it and it seemed so real, so alive that I couldn't hold back my tears. It seemed like Thérèse was looking at me too...In my opinion, it is the best likeness of all. Everything is there: fineness and accuracy of features, complexion, expression." Life-size, 86 x 65 cm. (www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr)

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", or 1.6" for 11x14" pictures. All Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!

Thanks!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - CatholicArtAndJewelry. We only did some minor restoration of the image, minor but nonetheless copyrighted.