Breton Girl Looking After Plants in the Hothouse

The girl looking after plants in a hothouse is not, in fact, looking after anything while she is being painted. This may be because she is modelling, but also because she has an inner life of such strength and fervour that she cannot simply just toil. In the 1880s, painting women with inner lives of their own clearly demonstrates how women are arriving at a new sense of self-worth. This woman is her own mistress, and she knows how to cultivate nature. She lives at a time ripe for replanting in order for new flowers to grow - both at a concrete level and metaphorically.