Madonna with Child

Description of the artwork

Between 1867 and 1873, Ernest Hébert was director of the French Academy in Rome. At the very begining of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, he visited his family in the village of La Tronche. When he heard that the Prussian were probably able to destroy the village during the war, he promised to offer a painting of a Madone if the village remained intact. That's why in 1872 he offered a painting with the same composition to the church of his village.
Nowadays, an other version of this painting executed on a golden background and named "La Vierge de la Délivrance" is hold in the Hébert Museum located in Grenoble.