L'atelier

Henner did not get many commissions for large-scale decorative works. The Truth is the first version of a painting that no longer exists, commissioned in 1896 for the Salle des Autorités at the Sorbonne in Paris.

In the painting you can see two superimposed female figures. This is because Henner, having started the painting again on the same canvas, simply turned it by ninety degrees. The painting is devoid of any features, such as a mirror, that are usually associated with a representation of Truth.