"In Trouville, Courbet possibly encountered Joanna Hiffernan (born 1842/43), a “beautiful Irishwoman,” through his acquaintance James McNeill Whistler, who was also working in Trouville in 1865. This image of Jo, Whistler’s mistress and model, was likely painted in 1865, when Courbet wrote of “the beauty of a superb redhead whose portrait I have begun.” He would paint three repetitions with minor variations." http://books0977.tumblr.com/page/10