[2] William Bouguereau (1825–1905) studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, as well as in Rome, and was considered a leading French academic painter in the nineteenth century.

[3] Legend has it that he searched for a model for the painting’s figures and found them in his first wife, Nelly Monochablon, who posed for the angels, one by one, and at last, with a child in her arms.

The painting shows the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus Christ, who is calmly asleep in a pastoral setting, while a trio of angels hovers nearby.

Originally, a stained-glass window was going to be the focal point of the chapel, but instead Forest Lawn decided to purchase the painting from Schnittjer’s gallery.

Song of the Angels was exhibited at the Getty Center,[5] alongside a preparatory oil sketch and a later, half-size replica from Bouguereau’s own hand.