The paintings’ subject matter much like Puvis’ other works such as Antique Vision are related to Ancient Greek mythology and are stylised as classical pieces.

[3] The Sacred Grove was the first of Puvis’ paintings to be developed from an easel version and unlike his other pieces did not depict historical events or well known geographical landscapes.

[3] Critics were unsure of the painting due to its different nature and unconventional creation, as well as its lack of explanation by Puvis when the showcase version was displayed in the Salon.

[6] The artist's good reputation then started to decrease substantially when Henri de Toulouse Lautrec parodied The Sacred Grove and mocked Puvis’ more traditional artistry.

[3] While most painters of the late 19th century were pursuing more modern subjects, The Sacred Grove is a nod to classical art and makes a direct reference to visions of Hellenistic Greece.

[3] Muses Polyhymnia (of rhetoric), Clio (of history) and Calliope (of epic poetry, science and philosophy) are centred in the painting directly in front of the fresco.

[3] The landscape is divided into four main horizontal panels, the foreground occupied by the muses and interspersed with flowers and greenery, the middle ground in which a river flows and the background made up of pale coloured mountains that surround the rest of the scene.

[3] The Bunkamura Museum claimed that The Sacred Grove gives the viewer an image of a "Utopia" and depicts "a profound allegoric world...known as a pioneering body of Symbolist works.

"[7] The Allegorical mode, based on knowledge and reason, is employed in the painting through the use of tributes to ancient Greek mythology: scriptures for law, the harp for music.

[11] Lautrec's piece mimics the subject matter and style of the original, using the fresco technique of applying paint to create a matte surface.

[3] It is currently on display at the Princeton University Art Museum in an exhibition titled: “Invoking the Comic Muse: Toulouse-Lautrec’s Parody of ‘The Sacred Grove’”.

In 2002, The Sacred Grove was housed at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, in an exhibition which focused on Puvis's influence on modernism and by extension abstract art.

[12] The Sacred Grove then returned to France in an exhibition at the Musée de Picardie in Amiens alongside some of Puvis’ other paintings which are permanently displayed there.

[1] This was the first museum retrospective of Puvis’ work in the U.S.A.[1] The Sacred Grove showcase piece is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago in the European Painting and Sculpture Gallery.