Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper
Date: 1861
Technique: Oil on canvas, 75 x 151.2 cm
From Celtic mythology, Les Lavandières, also known as the cannard noz in Brittany, the Bean Nighe (in Scottish mythology), or the Midnight Washerwomen in English, are three old washerwomen. The three old women go to the water's edge at midnight to wash shrouds for those about to die according to the myth and folklore of Brittany; or to wash the bloodstained clothing of those who are about to die according to British folklore. The story of three old women may be due to the old Celtic tradition of the triple goddess of death and slaughter.
The washerwomen are small, dressed in green and have webbed feet. Their webbed feet may be the reason they are also sometimes called the cannard noz (meaning "night ducks") in Breton folklore.
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