Shepherdess Seated on a Rock
Medium
Oil on wood
Dimensions
14 1/8 x 11 1/8 in. (35.9 x 28.3 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Douglas Dillon, 1983
Accession Number
1983.446
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean-François Millet's *Shepherdess Seated a Rock* (1856) captures a quiet moment in rural French life, portraying a young woman shepherdess perched on a stone, absorbed in knitting while tending her flock. Rendered in oil on wood—a compact panel format ideal for intimate studies—this small painting (14 1/8 x 11 1/8 in.) exemplifies Millet's mastery of everyday scenes, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art European Paintings collection. As a leading figure in the Realism movement and the Barbizon school, Millet elevated the dignity of peasants, moving away from idealized Romantic subje...
About the Artist
Jean-François Millet · 1814–1875
Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) was a French painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon school, whose dignified depictions of peasant laborers transformed how art could represent rural life. His monumental images of sowers, gleaners, and field workers elevated common people to subjects previously reserved for mythological or historical figures, making him a pivotal figure in the development ...