Who is the inspiration for Sara’s painting, Winter with a Child’s Funeral Procession, in the novel, The Last Painting of Sara De Vos?

Griet, known locally around Groenstede as the “madwoman,” is a widowed mother who has lost all of her children over the years to death. She is the only resident who remains in the ruins of the former town, and is visited by Sara when Sara comes to make sketches for her painting. Griet and Sara befriend one another quickly, sensing in the other the feelings of loss, isolation, and loneliness. Griet thus becomes the inspiration for Sara’s painting “Winter with a Child’s Funeral Procession.”