rs to the neighboring square, where the animal could browse on
the real grass, and afterward be carried back by one of the devoted
brothers of his mistress. They were very poor, but they were equally
happy. At evening Rosa made small models or illustrations for books or
albums, which the dealers readily bought, and by this means she added to
the family store for needs or pleasures.

In 1841, when Rosa was nineteen years old, she first experienced the
pleasures, doubts, and fears attendant upon a public exhibition of one's
work. Two small pictures, called "Goats and Sheep" and "Two Rabbits,"
were hung at the Salon and were praised by critics and connoisseurs. The
next year she sent three others, "Animals in a Pasture," "A Cow Lying in
a Meadow," and "A Horse for Sale." She continued to send pictures to the
Salon and to some exhibitions in other cities, and received several
bronze and silver medals.

In 1845 she sent twelve works to the Salon, accompanied by those of her
father and her brother Auguste, who was admitted that year for the first
time. In 1848 Isidore was added to the list, exhibiting a picture and a
group in marble, both representing "A Combat between a Lioness and an
African Horseman." And, finally, the family contributions were completed
when Juliette, now Madame Peyrol, added her pictures, and the works of
the five artists were seen in the same Exhibition.

In 1849 Rosa Bonheur's "Cantal Oxen" was awarded the gold medal, and was
followed by "Ploughing in the Nivernais," so well known the world over by
engravings and photographs. When the medal was assigned her, Horace
Vernet proclaimed her triumph to a brilliant assemblage, and also
presented to her a magnificent vase of Sevres porcelain, in the name of
the French Government. This placed her in the first rank of living
artists, and the triumph was of double value to her on account of the
happiness it afforded her father, to see this, his oldest child, of whose
future he had often despaired, taking so eminent a place in the artistic
world.

This year of success was also a year of sorrow, for before its end the
old Raymond had died. He had been for some time the director of the
Government School of Design for Girls, and, being freed from pecuniary
anxiety, he had worked with new courage and hope. After her father's
death Rosa Bonheur exhibited nothing for two years, but in 1853 she
brought out her "Horse Fair," which added to her fame.

She was perfect