More than ever perplexed what to do with her, her father now left her for a time entirely to herself. Thus abandoned to her own spontaneous actions, Rosa, who felt that the idle and aimless life she had hitherto led was little calculated to help her to the realization of her secret ambition, and who was full of unacknowledged regret and remorse for her incapacity and uselessness, sought refuge from her own uncomfortable thoughts in her father’s studio, where she amused herself with imitating every thing she saw him do; drawing and modeling, day after day, with the utmost diligence and delight, happy as long as she had in her hands a pencil, a piece of charcoal, or a lump of clay. In the quiet and congenial activity of the studio, her excited feelings became calm, and her ideas grew clearer; she began to understand herself, and to devise the path nature had marked out for her. As this change took place in her mind, the desultory and purposeless child became rapidly transformed into the earnest, self-conscious, determined woman. She drew and modeled from morning till night with enthusiastic ardor; and her father, amazed at her progress, and perceiving at last the real bent of her nature, devoted himself seriously to her instruction, superintending her efforts with the greatest interest and care. He took her through a serious course of preparatory study, and then sent her to the Louvre to copy the works of the old masters, as a discipline for her eye, her hand, and her judgment. Surrounded and stimulated by the glorious creations of the great painters--the first to enter the gallery and the last to leave it--too much absorbed in her model to be conscious of any thing that went on around her, Rosa pursued her labors with unwavering zeal. “I have never seen an example of such application, and such ardor for work,” remarked M. Jousselin, director of the Louvre, in describing the deportment of the young student. The splendid coloring and form of the Italian schools, the lofty idealism of the German, and the broad naturalism of the Dutch, alike excited her enthusiasm; she studied them all with equal delight, and copied them with equal felicity. To aid her father in his arduous struggle for the support of his family, now increased by the birth of two younger children, was the immediate object of Rosa’s ambition; and, the admirable fidelity of her copies insuring them a speedy sale, this filial desire was soon gratified. She gained but a small sum for each, but so great was her industry that those earnings soon became an important item in the family resources.