Return from the Fields
Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
c. 1846–47
Medium
oil on fabric
Dimensions
unframed: 46.2 × 37.8 cm · framed: 68 × 60 × 10 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession Number
1972.19
Tags
male
About this artwork
This idealized vision of noble peasant life was painted during a period of intense industrialization in France, accompanied by economic depression and the abandonment of farms. Nostalgic peasant scenes were especially popular in the 1840s, a stark contrast to the disillusionment and tension that would violently surface in the Revolution of 1848. The vague shapes and faces of the family seen here make them symbols of the land, rather than individuals.