2-799-494 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Travelling Companions, 1862. This painting has an enduring fascination because of its mirror image of identically dressed women. They face each other in the confined space of a railway carriage from which a view of the sun-lit coast near Meudon in southern France can be seen. The movement of the train is suggested by the swinging tassel of the window blind. One figure dozes, the other reads, perhaps depicting a modern version of 'Industry and Idleness'.