Fire at the Paper Mill in Lorette, c.1862

Zacharie Vincent, Fire at the Paper Mill in Lorette, c.1862, oil on cardboard, 44.4 x 59.4 cm, Musée de la civilisation, Quebec City.
Here Vincent depicts the fire that broke out on June 10, 1862, at the Smith paper mill on the Kabir Kouba River and spread to the church of Notre-Dame de la Jeune-Lorette. Thanks to the quick action of Abbé Prosper Vincent (the artist’s nephew, who was on holiday in the village) and several other citizens, most of the church furnishings and sacred objects were saved. Vincent uses no exaggeration to create drama or emotion; rather than documenting an event, his painting represents conditions of precariousness and irremediable loss.
Gallery

Zacharie Vincent and His Son Cyprien, c.1851

Head of a Moose, from Nature, c.1855

Lake Saint-Charles, c.1860

Fire at the Paper Mill in Lorette, c.1862

Self-Portrait, n.d.

Huron Chief Zacharie Vincent Telariolin Painting a Self-Portrait, c.1875

Zacharie Vincent Telari-o-lin, Huron Chief and Painter, c.1875–78

Snowshoe Maker, n.d.

Camp Site (Man with Long Coat), n.d.