An academic painter ?

Actually, Henner enjoyed an official career full of honours even though his paintings did not really match the ideal advocated by the Academy. They were criticised for their freedom in comparison with the traditional treatment of history painting, at the top of the hierarchy of genres. Unlike his contemporary Jean-Paul Laurens or the Neo-Greek Jean-Léon Gérôme, Henner had no inclination for historical reconstitution. He attached little importance to narrative elements, such as the décor or the costumes, even though history painting was supposed to show examples for educational purposes. What is more, his paintings lacked the smooth and precise aspect or the determination to appeal to viewers to be found in the works of William Bouguereau or Alexandre Cabanel.
While it is not really possible to classify Henner in any pictorial movement of the second half of the 19th century, his approach, a blend of idealisation, realism and references to the Italian Renaissance, is nevertheless close to that of his Neo-Florentine sculptor friends, Paul Dubois and Alexandre Falguière.
At the time of his death in 1905, Henner was a recognised artist whose works were broadly disseminated through engravings and photographs. Paintings like L’Alsace. Elle Attend or Fabiola, were almost like icons, and he was widely copied as a result of this success.