fransk:

Jo, la belle Irlandaise 

Jo, the Beautiful Irish Girl

title QS:P1476,fr:"Jo, la belle Irlandaise "

label QS:Lfr,"Jo, la belle Irlandaise "

label QS:Les,"Jo, a bela irlandesa"

label QS:Lsv,"Jo, den vackra irländskan"

label QS:Laz,"Co"

label QS:Len,"Jo, the Beautiful Irish Girl"

label QS:Lit,"Jo, la belle irlandaise"

label QS:Lde,"Jo, die schöne Irin"

The Irish girl in this painting is Joanna Heffernan. She modelled for the painter James Abbott MacNeill Whistler, with whom she lived. Courbet met her in Normandy in 1865 and they became very close friends. In the painting she pulls her hand through her loose, red hair, while gazing at her reflection in the mirror – a subject charged with symbolism associating to themes such as provocative sensuality, vanity or the transience of beauty. Courbet made three other versions of this painting. This is the original version, which belonged to his estate when he died in 1877.