From every point of view, a life so spent is a curious and interesting study. There is the independence belonging to an existence devoted to art, with almost cloistral simplicity and formality. She had been hardly ever separated from her proud and devoted mother till her death, in 1858. The loss left her inconsolable. Her brother, an artist of merit, resides with her, assists in most of her works, and is the support and comfort of her life. Her happy home and domestic relations have helped to expand and refine her genius. A woman’s art, as well as her heart, suffers when the home in which she works is uncongenial. Our artist’s name--Felicie--has proved a good omen for one who is at once “a good woman and a great artist.” ROSA BONHEUR.[3] [3] This sketch was prepared under the supervision of Mademoiselle Bonheur. Rosalie Bonheur--as she is called in her _acte de naissance_--was born in Bordeaux on the 16th of March, 1822. Her father, Oscar Raymond Bonheur, was a painter of merit, who had in youth taken the highest honors at the exhibitions of his native town. He devoted part of his time to giving drawing-lessons in families for the support of his aged parents. An attachment sprung up between him and one of his pupils--Sophie Marqués--a lovely and accomplished girl. Her family opposed their union on account of the artist’s poverty; and after the marriage the young people were thrown entirely on their own resources. Rosalie was the eldest of their four children. Her father was compelled to give up his dreams of fame and the higher labors of his art, and for eight years maintained his family by teaching drawing.