Des glaneuses

In his famous painting "The Gleaners", Jean-François Millet goes against the movement of the painters of his time. He does not seek to idealize country life, from which he came, but rather to evoke its miserable backdrop. While a crowd of harvesters is busy in the distance, three large bent peasant women occupy the center of the painting. They are searching the ground of the just harvested field for the lost ears of corn. The harvest seems meager: the artist shows the straw rather than the grain. The hardened shadows at the front of the painting further dramatize the scene and bring even more dignity to these courageous women.