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Secondary sourcePainting1940

Thérèse as a Child with Her Mother

Céline Martin · 1940

An engraving after a drawing by her sister Céline, showing Thérèse as a young child embraced by her mother.

This engraving, based on a drawing by her sister Céline, depicts Thérèse as a child with her mother.

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Sepia-toned print of a dark-haired young woman with a lace collar and wildflowers on her dress, embracing a curly-haired young girl in a light dress holding a bouquet of flowers. Signature initials appear at lower left.
Céline Martin (artist), Thérèse enfant et sa mère, engraving, published 1940.

About this source

What it is

This is a sepia-toned engraving made after a drawing by Céline Martin, Thérèse's sister. It appeared in a 1940 edition of Histoire d'une âme, Thérèse's autobiography, published in Lisieux and Bar-le-Duc, France. It shows Thérèse as a young girl with her mother, Zélie Martin.

Why it matters

This image was created by someone who knew Thérèse personally, her own sister Céline, and shows how her family shaped the visual memory of her childhood. It reflects how family members helped construct the public image of Thérèse used in devotional publications after her death and canonization.

Look closer

  • Why might a family member's drawing be chosen to illustrate Thérèse's autobiography?
  • What feelings does the embrace between mother and child convey, and why might that matter to readers?
  • How might this image differ from an image made by someone outside the family?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Therese on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Act of Oblation to Merciful Love

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Portrait of Thérèse of Lisieux

15 April 1895

Black and white photograph of a young woman in a pale armored-style bodice and dark fleur-de-lis-decorated skirt, holding a sword, standing beside a banner pole in front of a brick wall and ivy, with a shield bearing fleurs-de-lis and a wreath at her feet.Photograph

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Photograph of Thérèse as Joan of Arc

Céline Martin (Sister Geneviève) · 1895

Photograph of a book cover with a marbled brown and tan speckled paper binding and a beige cloth spine, with blue flecks. A small library credit in the lower right reads Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France. The cover appears worn at the edges.Book

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Histoire d'une âme, first edition (1898)

Thérèse of Lisieux, ed. Pauline Martin (Mother Agnes of Jesus) · 30 September 1898

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