French School Of The Late 19th Century - Cardinal Lavigerie And Two White Fathers

French school of the end of the 19th century
The cardinal Lavigerie with two White Fathers
Oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm (57 x 64.5 cm with the frame) Unsigned Beautiful carved wooden frame

Portrait of the Archbishop of Algiers and future Cardinal Charles Lavigerie who founded the society of the Missionaries of Africa, the "White Fathers", alongside two famous White Fathers from the beginnings of the Mission: on the right Father Lonce Bridoux who joined the community in 1873 and on the left perhaps Alfred Louis Delattre, who would become a great archaeologist. The two fathers who would become famous were appointed in the 1870s by Monsignor Lavigerie and found themselves on a mission in Carthage. The first directed the apostolic school of Saint-Eugène from 1878, the major seminary of Carthage of the White Fathers. And the second appointed chaplain of the church of Saint-Louis de Carthage would become the great explorer of the archaeological site of Carthage. We recognize the clothing of the white fathers which is the same as the natives of North Africa, the robe or gandoura and a white wool burnous. They also wear a rosary around their neck. To the left of the archbishop is a "negrillon" as they were called at the time. He wears a blue belt which shows that he was consecrated to the Virgin. He was probably freed from slavery by Monsignor Lavigerie who was a great defender within the Church of the position against slavery (there is still a monument in Bayonne with his sculpture in his honor). At the bottom left of the painting two children are eating squatting. They are pointed out by the archbishop to the white fathers whose first mission in Africa was to take care of orphans. A beautiful period painting with beautiful colors, beautiful portraits of religious and at the same time an interesting document of the history of Catholic missions in North Africa.