Constant Mayer 1832-1911

Maud Muller is the heroine and title of a romantic poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.  It is a bittersweet love story of unrequited love between a low born, but lovely young peasant woman and an aristocratic young judge, who meet by chance for a moment.  Although they are smitten with one another, the harsh realities of their class differences prevent them from ever meeting again.  Neither ever forgets that first encounter.  The present painting shows the still-lovely Maud years later as a full-grown woman working hard in the fields, pausing and remembering that brief interlude in her youth.