Francois-Saint Bonvin, a true realist of his time, focused on themes of the lower class: his images comment on the drudgery that was the fate of the poor. In Bonvin’s The Beggar Woman, he depicts a homeless women extending her hand to ask for some sort of assistance.  The way in which she uses her arm to pull up her ragged dress slightly suggests that she could be a prostitute, offering her services to a passer-by.  It was not proper at the time for women to show anything that was covered by the dress, including even a shoe or stocking.  The woman is looking directly at the audience, which in a way draws the audience into the image, as if she is communicating directly with those who study her. 

By placing this women on a bridge overlooking the Seine, with the presence of the morgue in the background, Bonvin seems to fortell the fate of the poor beggar women---her final destination could be right over her shoulder.