The Shepherdess

Jean-François Millet1852/1862

Details

Title: The Shepherdess
Creator: Jean-François Millet
Creator Lifespan: 1814/1875
Creator Nationality: French
Creator Gender: Male
Creator Death Place: Barbizon, France
Date Created: 1852/1862
Location: France
Physical Dimensions: w38.4 x h30.7 (work)
Label Copy: After studying in Paris, Millet traveled to Barbizon in 1849. There in the Fontainebleau forest, Millet began to paint rustic landscapes and scenes from peasant lives that became a hallmark of his work. These pastoral genre scenes of hard-working peasants have a simplicity and monumentality that make them a kind of visual homily on the virtues of the steadfast country folk he encountered. This scene is a testament to the watchfulness of the shepherdess and her dog. The quiet dignity of the scene carries a Biblical resonance that Millet shares with Rembrandt. This muted delicacy is conveyed through Millet's build up of tonalities on the sheet, achieved through smudging of the chalk overlaid with careful hatching lines to convey mass and the slanting light of late afternoon.
Type: Drawing
External Link: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1955-sl-1.106/1955_1.106.JPG?lasttype=boolean;lastview=thumbnail;resnum=1;sel9=ic_exact;size=20;sort=relevance;start=1;subview=detail;view=entry;rgn1=musart_an;select1=starts;q1=1955%2F1.106
Medium: black chalk on off-white wove paper

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