This plate brings together the authentic signatures of the three people - John Baptist DE LA SALLE, Nicolas Vuyart and Gabriel Drolin - who made the "heroic vow" of November 21, 1691 (the original is lost). They promised by a vow of association and union to establish the Society of the Christian Schools "even if we are the only three left in the said society and even if we are obliged to ask for alms and to live on bread alone".
Rome, the chapel of the Generalate: the relics of Saint John Baptist DE LA SALLE. After 187 years at Rouen and 31 years at Lembecq-lez-Hal (Belgium), these relics were transferred to Rome in 1937, arriving on January 24. The following day, they were received into the present chapel with great solemnity.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: work painted by Pierre Léger, most likely the second such work. It is currently preserved in the Museum of the Generalate. Dated 1734, it has been adopted as the official portrait of the Founder. It reminds us of Blain's description: "His face was always happy, tranquil, and imperturbable... The image of kindness that characterized him also produced a joy among those around him". (Life by Blain, Book 4, p. 308).
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: engraving by Manigaud (before 1888) and used in illustrating the life of the Founder by Armand Ravelet. It reproduces quite faithfully the work of Léger, from which it was copied.
Copy of Léger's portrait by Audfray, a painter of Angers, early 20th century. The artist portrays the Founder in full maturity, underlining the impression of calm and fulfillment already discernible in the features of the original.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: Napier produced this work from Léger's painting, for the third edition of the life of the Founder by Blain (1889). While it is faithful to the original, the facial features are cold, for the artist did not have the same "vision" of his subject.
We can legitimately claim that this painting faithfully reproduces the traits of the Founder. In effect, the Brothers who had known him well chose this for inclusion in the first edition of his "Life" by Blain in 1733. Jean-Baptiste Scotin produced this work from a first portrait painted by Léger, and which is now lost.
A detail of the work by Scotin: it reminds us of the description of DE LA SALLE given by Maillefer: "(with) the head slightly inclined to the front, the broad forehead, the large well-proportioned nose, the clear blue eyes, the hair chestnut colored and curly". (Life by Maillefer, Cahier lasallien 6, p. 258). Note the vivacity, the penetrating look, the firmness of the facial features, which gradually become more noticeable in copies produced later on.
18th century painting in the Generalate Archives. The artist used Scotin's engraving as a model. The features are firm and the intensity of the look is heightened by the prominent brow
John Baptist DE LA SALLE, pen and ink drawing from the beginning of the 20th century. The setting is conventional, but the actual features of the Founder faithfully represent the character and sureness of the model, the portrait by Pierre Léger.
Preserved at Hôtel de La Salle in Reims, this painting shows young Canon DE LA SALLE at about the age of 18. His height and facial features picture the adolescent, though his composure shows a gravity and seriousness which biographers have been desirous of projecting.
A detail of the preceding painting. It depicts in a more tangible manner the intensity and depth of the gaze which seems to be scrutinizing a future which is yet to be decided.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: the saint is here presented dressed as a canon. This painting is preserved at Rotten in the house of the Sisters of the Rue d'Ernemont. A pleasant face which reproduces Léger and Scotin fairly faithfully.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE from an old miniature in the Collection of E. Pelay, Rouen. Engraving by Chapon of a drawing by Edouard Gamier. The features are noble and serene, portraying the Founder at the height of his powers.
Ritratto detto "rue de Sèvres" perchèfu scoperto nel 1956 in questa comunità dove si trova. Gli specialist) che l'hanno esaminato affermano che risale all'epoca del Fondatore, senza poser assicurare che si tratta del Signor DE LA SALLE, malgrado certe analogie col quadro di Léger.
On Good Friday, April 7 1719, Du Phly painted the portrait of John Baptist DE LA SALLE, who had died early that morning. It is the only portrait we are sure was painted with the Founder's features before the artists. Unfortunately, this painting was lost in 1905 when the mother house was transferred, and we now have only two photographs of it, both in poor condition.
Du Phly's portrait of the Founder was copied before 1730 by the engraver Crepy. This engraving, reproduced here, shows the same features as the photograph of the lost portrait and even more clearly. The expression of the face is sealed by death but is rendered with perfect clarity.
The Founder writing the Rules. This engraving by Chapon of the painting by Muller, 1887, observes the conventions common for illustrating the lives of the saints, and should not make us forget that before being put into their final form these Rules were tested and discussed by the Brothers themselves.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: using as reference a conventional painting by Charles Muller, engraved for the Life by Ravelet, the American sketcher Howard Brodie has succeeded in presenting the Saint and his young companion in a very striking manner.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: the Saint is shown among a group of pious people at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Virtues in Aubervilliers. This work of Clergé dates back to 1874. The central subject is pictured according to the technical conventions of the period: neo-gothic decor, traditional poses.
Drawing by Edouard Gamier: James II, the King of England dethroned in 1688, visits the Grand' Maison accompanied by Cardinal de Nouilles. John Baptist DE LA SALLE had opened a boarding school there for the education of fifty Irish boys who had followed the king into exile.
Funeral of John Baptist DE LA SALLE, April 8 1719, engraving by Trichon of a drawing by Gamier. The artists have somewhat exaggerated what actually happened, as Blain says: "he was buried without pomp in Saint Suzanna's chapel in the church of Saint-Sever on Holy Saturday afternoon in the presence of a great crowd of people who attended his funeral".
Engraving by Napier of the medallion by Borrel struck in 1888 to commemorate the beatification of John Baptist DE LA SALLE. The features are faithful to the model, the portrait by Léger.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE: statue by Aureli in the Basilica of Saint Peter at Rome. Some five meters in height and weighing twenty-three tons, it was produced from a block of marble that weighed more than a hundred! The Founder instructing two children standing near him is presented in a classic manner.
John Baptist DE LA SALLE meets Adrien Nyel at the convent of the Sisters of the Child Jesus, Rue du Barbatre, Reims (before March 15, 1679). Painting from Gerlier's engraving in Gaveau's 1886 Life of the Founder. Of little artistic merit, it is nevertheless the only representation of the event which was to change the course of the life of Canon de La Salle.
Painting by Giovanni Gagliardi, 1901: John Baptist DE LA SALLE distributing bread to the poor of Reims during the terrible winter of 1684-85. This classical painting of very careful composition highlights in the center the gesture of giving, underlined by the movement of the hands.
Painting by Giovanni Gagliardi, 1901: in June 1686 at Reims, John Baptist DE LA SALLE and twelve Brothers make for the first time the vow of obedience for one year. The following day they went to renew this at the shrine of Our Lady of Liesse near the town of Laon.
Painting by Giovanni Gagliardi, 1901. The first school of the Brothers in Paris was that of the Rue Princesse in the parish of Saint Sulpice. The pastor, M. de La Chétardye, is shown here visiting the school. This man of great qualities had very strained relations with the Founder whom he first supported and then opposed. He had a strong tendency to meddle in the internal affairs of the Institute.

One of the most popular portraits of the Founder is taken from this painting, using only that portion containing his head.
Copy of the painting by Cesare Mariani, 1888, at the Vatican: John Baptist DE LA SALLE teaching in class, a painting of amusing and lively realism. The contrast in facial expression and attitudes portrays the lively world of the young, known and loved by educators.
Painting by Giovanni Gagliardi, 1905: visit to Saint-Yon of the Archbishop of Rouen, son of Louis XlV's minister Colbert, accompanied by Pontcarré, president of the Normandy parliament. The Brothers had been at Saint Yon on the outskirts of Rouen since 1705, and it housed the novitiate, a boarding school and an establishment for delinquents. Saint John Baptist de la Salle spent the last years of his life there, the mother house of the Brothers.
Painting by Giovanni Gagliardi, 1906: the dying Founder gives his last blessing to the Brothers. Compare this with the painting by Grellet. Here everything is much gentler and the features and attitudes are serene. Grellet, however, is doubtless closer to the harsh reality. Before he died, John Baptist DE LA SALLE learned that he had been deprived of the exercise of his priestly powers in the diocese of Rouen.
Death of John Baptist DE LA SALLE, April 71719. Painting by Grellet, 1859, who has portrayed various members of the Institute: school Brothers, a serving Brother with a brown religious habit, some novices and postulants, besides a mysterious clerical fgure in the doorway. Right up to his death, the Founder had misunderstandings with the pastor and the archbishop.
 
Painting by Aurelio Mariani, 1906: the Founder blessing the Drolin Brothers, Gabriel and Gerard, before their departure for Rome in 1702. (Only Gabriel was to stay). This early presence of the new Institute in Rome was a sign of loyalty to the Pope and the first expansion beyond France
John Baptist DE LA SALLE celebrates his first Mass, April 10, 1678, in the Lady chapel of Reims Cathedral, in the presence of his family and of Nicolas Roland who was to die a few days later (April 27). Painting in the church at Gravières (Ardèche, France) by one of the Brothers. Of little artistic value, it has at least the merit of being one of the few representations to include women together with the saint - in this case, his sisters. Painters have been even more selective in this respect than his biographers...
Nicolas Roland, 1642-1678, painting at the Hotel de La Salle, Reims. Canon of Reims and friend of John Baptist DE LA SALLE, he founded the congregation of the Sisters of the Child Jesus. Though many of Roland's friends had tried to interest DE LA SALLE in the work of education without success, Roland's own enthusiasm for the cause of education was to bear fruit in the work of the Founder of the Brothers and, as is often the case, the disciple was to outstrip the master.
Nicolas Moët de Brouillet, (1631-1706), uncle of John Baptist DE LA SALLE and brother of his mother. This painting at the Hotel de La Salle in Reims is the only portrait of a member of the Founder's family that we know of.
Brother Irénée, Claude du Lac de Montisambert, (1691-1747): This young officer met John Baptist DE LA SALLE at Parménie in 1714. Deeply impressed by the Founder he entered the Institute and is looked on as one of the great followers of the Saint, later becoming master of novices at Saint Yon and Assistant to the Superior General.
Reims Cathedral, begun in 1212 and finished in the 14th century, rich in history and artistic splendor: Clovis was baptised here (in an earlier building) and the French kings crowned, including Charles VII brought by Saint Joan of Arc. John Baptist DE LA SALLE was a canon of this cathedral and celebrated here his first Mass, April 10, 1678.
Façade of the birthplace of John Baptist DE LA SALLE, the Hotel de la Cloche. His family lived there till June 24, 1665 when they moved to the Rue Sainte-Marguerite. Now owned by the Institute it is called the Hôtel De La Salle, and contains a very interesting collection of materials concerning the Saint.
View of the Hotel de La Salle as it is today. The building was seriously damaged during the war of 1914-1918, but this courtyard remained almost untouched, and gives us an idea of the times of the DE LA SALLE family.
Parménie, general view. The origins of the place are lost in the mists of antiquity. It is situated in a magnificent setting on a high lonely hill, facing the mountains of the Chartreuse and the Vercors, with the Alps beyond.
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