The Martyrdom of Fathers Brébeuf and Lalemant

Despite the subject referred to in the title, this work is first and foremost a landscape. The artist has inserted the historical event pictured at centre – inspired by a well-known print – into an imaginary view. The setting here is near Quebec City, whose unmistakeable rocky promontory can be seen in the distance, but the incident portrayed actually took place in Huronia, near what is now Midland, Ontario. Légaré structured his composition with great care, and the result is his most accomplished picturesque landscape.