Peinture d'histoire

Religious subjects, particularly representations of Christ, are a recurring theme in Henner’s work. More than religious fervour, they are the expression of a profound meditation on death.

In addition to the more or less conscious references to works in museums, the artist did not hesitate to reuse elements from earlier compositions. His Christ in His Shroud for the 1896 Salon is repeated several years later in Christ with Donors, to which he added members of his family on the left-hand side of the painting. One can see that the three figures (his sister-in-law and nephews, Jules and Eugénie) were added later, the composition having been painted on three pieces of canvas that were stitched together to create a Christ with Donors in the tradition of classical painting.