ABSTRACT
During the sixth century Fabiola was canonized and since then has been venerated as patroness of abused women. In the second half of the nineteenth century, her cult was revived among European Catholics, leading the painter Jean-Jacques Henner to produce a portrait of her in 1885, which was subsequently lost, though a photographic record remains. Hundreds of hand-made copies of Henner's portrait were made in the twentieth century by amateur artists for various reasons. Many may have derived devotional merit from honoring the saint in this way; others may have found Henner's sharp profile of the woman attractive and perhaps easy to emulate. Francis Alÿs has collected many of these, which were exhibited in 2008 as part of a project sponsored by the Dia Art Foundation in New York. The following essay first appeared in a catalogue published on the occasion of the exhibition, Francis Alÿs: Fabiola; An Investigation (Kelly et al. 2008).
