file which includes the original        
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or #dcjfh-;h4zip3                       
7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu
b_/#dcjfh_/pg#dcjfh-;images4html7       
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jfh_/dcjfh-;h4zip7         ,images of   
the original pages are available through
       ,internet ,archive4 ,see         
https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/milletoc
ad#jjturnuoft      ,masterpieces in     
,colour  ,edited by--,t4 ,leman ,hare   
,,millet  #ahad-ahge          99        
99       99       99       99           
,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,series   
,,artist4                   ,,author4   
,,velazquez4                ,s4 ,l4     
,,bensusan4     ,,reynolds4             
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,turner4       
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,romney4       
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,greuze4       
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4                
,,botticelli4               ,,henry ,b4 
,,binns4     ,,rossetti4                

,,lucien ,,pissarro4     ,,bellini4     
,,george ,,hay4     ,,fra ,,angelico4   
,,james ,,mason4     ,,rembrandt4       
,,josef ,,israels4     ,,leighton4      
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4     ,,raphael4      
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4     ,,holman       
,,hunt4              ,,mary ,e4         
,,coleridge4     ,,titian4              
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,millais4      
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4     ,,carlo ,,dolci4
              ,,george ,,hay4           
,,gainsborough4             ,,max       
,,rothschild4     ,,tintoretto4         
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,luini4        
,,james ,,mason4     ,,franz ,,hals4    
,,edgcumbe ,,staley4     ,,van ,,dyck4  
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4     ,,leonardo    
,,da ,,vinci4        ,m4 ,w4            
,,brockwell4     ,,rubens4              
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,whistler4     
,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4     ,,holbein4     
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,burne-,,jones4
              ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4       
,,vig,e ,,le ,,brun4            ,c4     
,,haldane ,,macfall4     ,,chardin4     

,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4     ,,fragonard4   
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4     ,,memlinc4 
,w4 ,h4 ,j4  ,j4 ,c4 ,,weale4           
,,constable4                ,c4 ,,lewis 
,,hind4     ,,raeburn4                  
,,james ,l4 ,,caw4     ,,john ,s4       
,,sargent4          ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4
     ,,lawrence4                 ,s4 ,l4
 ,,bensusan4     ,d,,rer4               
,h4 ,e4 ,a4 ,,furst4     ,,millet4      
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4     ,,watteau4    
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,hogarth4      
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,murillo4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,watts4        
,w4 ,,loftus ,,hare4     ,,ingres4      
,a4 ,j4 ,,finberg4          ,others in  
,preparation4         99       99       
99       99       99                    
,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4--,,the       
,,wood-,,cutter4 ,frontispiece      7,in
 the ,louvre7      ,an instance of      
,millet in a less pessimistic mood than 
we     generally find him4 ,the         
wood-cutter1 pursuing his vocation on a 
warm sunny day1 full of life and vigour1

 brings before us the     joyous side of
 peasant life4 ,we feel that he is happy
 and     contented1 and if his lot is   
somewhat hard1 he has none of those     
distracting ambitions which mar the     
enjoyment in life to all who     fall a 
prey to them4 ,the wood in the          
background is a good     example of     
,millet's powers in this direction4     
,,millet  by  ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner      
,illustrated with ,eight ,reproductions 
in ,colour        ,illustration3 ,,in   
,,sempiternum4  ,london3 ,t4 ,c4  ,e4   
,c4 ,jack ,new ,york3 ,frederick ,a4    
,stokes ,co4     ,,contents             
,page       ,i4 ,introduction           
#aa      ,,ii4 ,millet's ,early ,life   
#bi     ,,iii4 ,the ,migration to ,paris
            #da      ,,iv4 ,the         
,struggle for ,recognition      #eb     
,v4 ,millet in his ,maturity            
#eg      ,,vi4 ,the ,man and his ,art   
#gb         ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations 
,plate                                  
,page        ,i4 ,the ,wood-,cutter     

,frontispiece              ,in the      
,louvre        ,,ii4 ,the ,weed-burner  
#ad              ,in the ,louvre        
,,iii4 ,the ,church at ,grville         
#bd              ,in the ,louvre        
,,iv4 ,the ,gleaners                    
#cd              ,in the ,louvre        
,v4 ,the ,straw-binders                 
#dj              ,in the ,louvre        
,,vi4 ,spring                           
#ej              ,in the ,louvre        
,,vii4 ,the ,sawyers                    
#fj              ,in the ,south         
,kensington ,museum      ,,viii4 ,the   
,sheep-fold                             
#gj              ,in the ,glasgow       
,corporation ,art ,galleries     ,i     
,,introduction   ,amongst the great     
painters of peasant life the name of    
,jean ,franois ,millet stands out       
prominently4 ,a long interval elapsed   
betwixt the death of ,adrian van ,ostade
 and the birth of ,millet1 unbroken by a
 single name1 with the solitary         
exception of ,chardin1 of a painter who 

grasped the profundity of peasant life4 
,in ,holland and ,flanders in the       
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we  
find many painters who1 whilst living   
the humblest lives themselves1 saw in   
their surroundings such material for    
treatment as has handed their names down
 to posterity4 ,it is only quite        
recently that one of the greatest of    
all1 ,pieter ,brueghel the ,elder1 has  
come to occupy his proper position in   
the world of art4 ,formerly he was      
looked upon as an eccentric painter1    
whose subjects were generally of rather 
a coarse nature2 who1 moreover1         
contented himself with depicting the    
droller side of the village life of his 
period1 and consequently was not to be  
taken seriously4 ,of late years1        
however1 an exhaustive research into his
 life and works have revealed him as one
 of the greatest masters in his own     
sphere of any time4 ,the wonderful      
series of pictures in ,vienna1 and the  
solitary examples scattered about the   

great collections of ,europe1 proclaim  
him not only a painter1 but a           
philosopher as well4 ,his peasants1     
grotesque as they may now appear to us1 
possess a fidelity and vigour of        
handling such as none of his            
contemporaries possess4 ,to him1        
consequently1 we must look as the       
fountain-head of all peasant painting4  
,his influence was immediately felt in  
the ,low ,countries1 and there sprang up
 that wonderful school of which ,adrian 
,brouwer1 ,jan ,steen1 and ,adrian van  
,ostade are such brilliant exponents4   
,in their more recent                   
prototype--,millet--the same profound   
and sympathetic rendering of the        
everyday life of the simple peasant is  
to be found1 tinged with the melancholy 
fervour of his temperament4 ,their      
temperament bears the same relation to  
his as the seventeenth century does to  
the nineteenth4 ,a more subdued temper  
had come over all classes of the        
community1 a less boisterous attitude   

towards life1 but the struggle for      
existence was none the less strenuous or
 unending4 ,the rollicking and reckless 
joy of ,brouwer's peasants1 with their  
hard drinking and lusty bawling1 was an 
essential feature of ,dutch life of the 
period4 ,but they are every whit as     
precious from an artistic and historical
 standpoint as are the placid interiors 
of ,millet4      ,illustration3 ,,plate 
,,ii4--,,the ,,weed-,,burner      7,in  
the ,louvre7      ,a notable example of 
the simplicity of motive which          
characterises ,millet's finest works4   
,the treatment of the     peasant figure
 in the centre of the picture is        
dominated by     sincerity and sympathy4
 ,the half suggested landscape forming  
the     background is symbolical of     
man's hard struggle with ,nature4 ,the  
colour scheme is very subdued1 and      
serves to accentuate the     wonderful  
outline and natural pose of the woman4  
,during the two centuries which elapsed 
between these great masters many changes

 had come over the lives of ,european   
people4 ,the spread of education1       
permeating down even to the lowest      
classes1 had tended to the sobering of  
habits2 and the ,french peasant1 with   
the partial uplifting and greater       
contact through more equitable          
distribution of the land which the      
,revolution had bestowed upon him1 was a
 quieter man than his ,dutch prototype  
who had preceded him by a couple of     
centuries4  ,in ,millet's rendering of  
the life he found around him1 the same  
incisive truth and absorbing sincerity  
is to be found as in the ,dutchmen with 
whom ,i have compared him1 and          
consequently ,millet can be considered  
as a direct lineal descendant of the    
mighty ,brueghel4  ,the entire absence  
of the ,dutchmen's brutality in         
,millet's work is to be accounted for1  
firstly1 by the extreme gentleness of   
his own disposition2 and1 secondly1 by  
his study of some of the greatest       
masters of the ,italian renaissance4    

,his keenness of perception can be      
gauged by his enthusiastic appreciation 
of ,andrea ,mantegna at a time when the 
merits of that master were not          
understood as they are to-day4 ,many of 
his noblest inspirations were conceived 
under the ,paduan painter's influence1  
and one could cite many compositions in 
which the train of thought of the two   
masters seems to run upon parallel      
lines4  ,upon first regarding a picture 
of ,millet's mature years1 one wonders  
from whence come those subtleties of    
line and tone4 ,there is nothing        
analogous to them in the works of his   
contemporaries4 ,the difference too     
between his early efforts and those of  
his later years is stupendous1 but the  
lines which his development pursued are 
essentially due to the simplicity of the
 life he led and the high ideal he      
invariably kept before him4 ,living1 as 
he always did1 a life of struggle1 a    
never-ending battle against seemingly   
overwhelming odds1 he was in a position 

to grasp the sorrows and troubles of the
 simple folk by whom he was surrounded4 
,he further saw that work1 although they
 themselves were not aware of it1 alone 
made life liveable to them4 ,he shared  
their struggles in their most intense   
and poignant form4 ,in fact when one    
contemplates the life which ,millet led1
 both at ,grville and at ,barbizon1 with
 its strenuousness and earnestness1     
faced1 moreover1 with the ever-present  
dread of want1 it is to be wondered that
 he had the courage to live his life as 
he did4  ,it has become the fashion     
lately to decry certain phases of his   
art4 ,a charge of sentimentality is     
urged against some of his most popular  
works4 ,the ,angelus1 about which many  
hard things have lately been said1 is a 
case in point4 ,it must be remembered   
that modern life1 particularly as lived 
in great cities such as ,london or      
,paris1 does not tend to foster those   
simple ideas upon religion1 which the   
peasant1 far removed from great centres 

of population1 implicitly accepts4 ,he  
is1 as a rule1 a man of but little      
education1 who has heard nothing of the 
doubts and scepticisms with which       
townspeople of every grade of society   
are so familiar4 ,his ideas on religion 
are exactly those which have come to him
 from his parents1 and he is incapable  
of doubting the elementary truths he was
 first taught4 ,such simple ideas have  
departed from even the peasantry in most
 parts of ,france4 ,only in ,brittany   
and in ,la ,vende could one to-day      
encounter the types ,millet has         
portrayed for us in the ,angelus4  ,the 
two figures in the foreground are       
symbolical of all that is most touching 
in ,french peasant life4 ,the end of the
 day has arrived1 and after many hours  
of unremitting toil1 the ringing of the 
bell in the distant tower proclaims the 
finish of another day4 ,the wonderful   
still atmosphere which envelops the     
far-stretching plain1 the whole suffused
 with the effects of a placid and       

glorious sunset1 lends an intensity of  
poetical feeling which harmoniously     
blends with the placid nature of the    
theme4 ,all around us we have evidence  
of man's perpetual struggle with nature1
 the grim fight for subsistence1 for    
life itself4 ,the ploughed field has    
yielded many a crop1 the reward of      
arduous labour expended in sowing and   
reaping4 ,the small recompense to the   
labourer himself is symbolised by the   
extreme poverty with which the man and  
woman are clothed1 whilst the degrading 
nature of the toil1 as in the far famous
 ,man with the ,hoe1 is brought before  
us in the rugged types of the labourer  
and his wife4 ,the only softening       
influence in their lives is that        
imparted by religion1 and in choosing   
this moment of the angelus for depicting
 them1 ,millet has brought before us in 
the most forcible form not only the     
degrading character of much of the toil 
which is entailed in producing the      
necessities of existence1 but also the  

danger of removing by any sudden change1
 no matter how well intentioned1 the    
consoling influence of religious belief4
 ,a work into which such intense        
earnestness and melancholy truth is     
infused can never be designated         
sentimental1 except by those who have   
not freely grasped the immense import of
 these qualities in the production of   
great and enduring art4 ,brilliancy of  
technique and extraordinary facilities1 
if unsupported by a determination to    
convey some message1 will inevitably    
find its own level1 whilst the painter  
who possesses this supreme quality will 
assuredly come into his own4  ,it must  
never be forgotten that in considering  
the oil paintings of ,millet1 the       
subtleties of atmosphere and line can   
never be appreciated if one is not      
acquainted with the country he painted4 
,no two countries are alike in          
atmospheric effect1 and it is necessary1
 therefore1 in order to appreciate an   
artist to the full1 to have studied the 

country he has chosen to depict4 ,the   
outlines of the landscape1 the very     
shape of the trees1 the colour imparted 
by sunshine and clouds1 differ          
materially in various districts1 and    
consequently it behoves one to exercise 
caution before condemning this or that  
effect as being untrue to nature4  ,it  
may safely be said that as a painter1   
purely and simply1 ,millet will never   
occupy a very high position in the world
 of art4 ,he never bursts forth into any
 of those pyrotechnics which            
distinguished many of his contemporaries
 and some of the painters of our own    
days4 ,his manner of handling the brush 
is always restrained to the point of    
timidity4 ,by this ,i do not mean to    
imply that he could not paint in a large
 and bold manner2 indeed on many        
occasions1 as for example in the        
,sawyers1 he has attained an astonishing
 degree of power4 ,but as his whole     
thoughts were directed to suppressing   
any tendencies towards virtuosity1 which

 might divert attention from the point  
he wished to illustrate1 he frequently  
appears to achieve his ends by holding  
himself in restraint4  ,another dominant
 characteristic of ,millet's art is that
 the instant he throws off his sadly    
philosophic mood1 he is no longer a     
great artist4 ,for example1 in the      
well-known picture of ,la ,baigneuse1 he
 endeavours to draw himself into        
depicting the brighter side of life4 ,in
 a wood resplendent with the sunlit     
foliage of a glorious summer day1 a     
young girl is about to enter the small  
river which runs placidly between the   
moss-covered banks4 ,in the distance a  
number of ducks are disporting          
themselves in the water4 ,here is a     
theme which would appeal irresistibly to
 a man of the temperament of ,diaz2 he  
could impart the glories of colour as   
they were reflected from the mirror-like
 surface of the water1 the shimmering of
 the trees and the delicious effect of  
the balmy breeze as it rustled through  

the branches4 ,but in the hands of      
,millet it is nothing but a sad         
composition2 the figure is well drawn2  
the ducks are admirably placed in the   
composition1 and the trees treated with 
studious fidelity1 but there is that    
great indefinable something lacking     
which attracts us towards the master    
when working in a sadder mood4  ,millet 
can be described as being more a        
philosopher than a painter4 ,not only in
 his great paintings1 which by the way  
are not very numerous1 but in his       
drawings and etchings1 we discover the  
mind of a man who has grappled with1 and
 understood the great problems of life4 
,poor as he was1 and remained all his   
life1 it is doubtful whether riches or  
an improvement in circumstances would   
have brought him any increased          
happiness4 ,he loved the open country1  
and still more the solitary peasant whom
 he found working in the fields1 earning
 a bare subsistence for himself and his 
little mnage in the neighbouring        

village4 ,his interest was divided      
between the man at his work and his wife
 and children in the mnage4 ,the        
simplest incidents of their everyday    
life did not escape him1 and the        
smallest duty which would have left     
unaffected a less observant nature has  
been made the subject of many a fine    
canvas4      ,illustration3 ,,plate     
,,iii4--,,the ,,church ,,at ,,gr,,ville 
7,in the ,louvre7      ,one of the      
subtlest landscapes by ,millet in       
existence4 ,it shows     that on        
occasions he could leave the beaten     
track and still     remain as great a   
master as ever4 ,everybody who knows the
     atmosphere of ,normandy will       
appreciate its truth and poetry4 ,the   
marvellous results he has achieved with 
such a simple theme is     worthy of our
 praise4 ,the whole effect is so natural
 that we are     apt to forget the keen 
sense of composition that was needed to 
present the subject in such an          
attractive form4  ,millet seems         

particularly to have been impressed with
 the loneliness of the peasant's labour4
 ,take1 for example1 that wonderfully   
luminous canvas1 ,the ,sheep ,pen4      
,here1 in the midst of a vast plain1 a  
large space is marked out in which to   
enclose the sheep for the night4 ,the   
sun1 sinking low in the horizon1 warns  
the shepherd that the time has arrived  
for him to call together his flock and  
place them in safe quarters for the     
night4 ,accompanied by his faithful dog1
 he stands at the opening of the pen    
allowing the sheep to enter two or three
 at a time4 ,there is no other living   
soul in sight4 ,alone he has kept guard 
over the flock during the long day1 with
 no other company than his dog and his  
own thoughts4 ,he is dead to the        
beauties of the landscape around him1   
and sees nothing more in a field than   
how much corn can be raised each year   
from it1 or in the sheep he tends so    
carefully how much mutton it will make4 
,he feels nothing of the glorious       

beauties of the sunset1 of which he is  
so often a witness2 how it softens the  
lines of the horizon and suffuses the   
distant woods and plain with its golden 
rays4 ,he sees nothing of the changes   
momentarily occurring in the sky3 how   
the blues get fainter and fainter1 how  
the clouds are tinged with opalescent   
hues1 the shadows prolonging themselves 
as the orb sinks deeper and deeper2 or  
how1 finally1 when the sun has          
disappeared1 the whole heavens are      
lighted up in one blaze of glory4 ,yet  
,millet would have us understand that in
 spite of this1 the shepherd is         
performing a duty to humanity not to be 
underrated4 ,the sheep he has so        
carefully and conscientiously reared    
will form food to-morrow for many a     
hungry town-dweller4 ,further1 he would 
have us follow the peasant as he closes 
the pen for the night and traces his    
tired steps towards his simple home in  
the village4 ,the frugal and hard-earned
 meal1 prepared for him by his wife1 who

 like himself has had her share of      
duties to occupy her during the day1 is 
partaken of surrounded by a hungry and  
joyous group of children4 ,such themes  
suggested by the simplicity of his own  
life appealed to him with irresistible  
force1 and it is in their portrayal that
 his greatness is manifested4  ,perhaps 
no season of the year presented the same
 attraction for ,millet as the spring4  
,the period when all the earth after its
 long winter sleep is about to waken    
into new life seems to have always been 
a source of inspiration to him4 ,in ,the
 ,sower he emphasises the fact that the 
fruits of the harvest are not to be had 
without due labour being expended upon  
the earth4 ,the sloping field1 barren of
 vegetation1 and crowned at the top with
 a small clump of trees1 is being broken
 up by the distant plough drawn by two  
horses and guided by a peasant4 ,the    
latter figure is one of the noblest of  
,millet's creations4 ,by his strained   
and ever-attentive attitude1 by his     

continuous tramp over the rough and     
broken ground1 he shows us the monotony 
of his toil4 ,he crosses the field in   
one direction1 only to return at an     
interval of a few feet4 ,in the         
foreground we have the sower1 a         
middle-aged man of typical peasant type1
 on whose left side a bag of seeds is   
slung4 ,with automatic precision he     
withdraws a handful1 and strews it into 
the furrows open to receive it4 ,so long
 as he continues in the same track his  
labour will be well performed1 and hence
 his task is just as monotonous as that 
of his fellow-worker higher up in the   
field4 ,the silhouetting of these two   
figures against the light is symbolical 
of the labour to be expended in life    
before results are forthcoming4  ,from  
these remarks it will be seen that in   
considering the works of ,millet1 one   
must not judge him from the standpoint  
of a mere painter4 ,his brush is only   
the means to an end1 and by its means he
 is enabled to bring the fruits of his  

philosophic observation before us in    
permanent form4 ,it has been charged    
against the ,angelus that it was not a  
remarkably fine piece of painting1 that 
many a young artist of the present      
generation is infinitely better         
equipped1 technically speaking1 than the
 master who wrought this celebrated     
canvas4 ,this may in a measure be true1 
but it must never be forgotten that     
,millet brought into play exactly the   
means which could illustrate his meaning
 in the clearest terms4 ,he had not     
intended1 in painting such a picture1 to
 produce a work which would astonish his
 fellow artists with its brilliancy of  
handling or magnificence of colour4 ,he 
wanted to make the beholder forget the  
painter and absorb the lesson4 ,this    
quality runs right through the art of   
,millet1 and it is from this standpoint 
that we are obliged to weigh his merits4
     ,,ii  ,,millet',s ,,early ,,life   
,jean ,franois ,millet was born on      
,october #d1 #ahad1 that is at the      

period when ,french art1 at any rate as 
far as landscape painting is concerned1 
had reached its lowest ebb4 ,throughout 
the eighteenth century the landscape    
painter had been hard put to make a     
living4 ,the taste of connoisseurs      
throughout the century had been for     
portraits and interiors1 or for those   
numerous pastoral subjects which were   
carried out with so much decorative     
charm by such men as ,watteau and       
,boucher4 ,such landscape painting as   
existed was of the type popularised by  
,vernet2 it was built upon a curious    
mixture of ,italian influence coming    
from ,panini and ,salvator ,rosa4 ,the  
only evidence of revolt against such a  
state of affairs we find in the works of
 ,hubert ,robert and ,moreau4 ,these    
two1 and more especially would ,i direct
 the reader's attention to the latter1  
struggled hard to break down the        
conventionalities of the time4 ,they    
endeavoured to infuse some sense of     
atmosphere into their pictures1 and     

whilst frequently their trees and       
figures are painfully formal1 they yet  
stand alone in the ,french school as the
 pioneers of a phase of art which was to
 attain its zenith in the middle of the 
nineteenth century4  ,but after the     
,revolution1 and during the whole of the
 time that ,france was under the        
domination of ,napoleon1 very rigid     
principles indeed were enforced with    
regard to the direction that art should 
take4 ,the innovation which had its     
commencement in the reign of ,louis     
,,xvi4 swept everything before it as it 
gained force4 ,classical art and        
traditions dominated the whole ,french  
school1 and no artist1 however great his
 reputation1 attempted for many years to
 swim against the stream4 ,in spite of  
the principles of liberty and equality  
which were claimed for all under the new
 rgime1 a terribly strict eye was kept  
upon any innovations which might break  
out in the form of a naturalistic art4  
,the directors of this new movement     

failed to see that the conditions which 
had produced the great ,greek and ,roman
 sculptors had passed away1 and that the
 latter's supremacy was due to the fact 
that their productions were symbolical  
of the loftiest thoughts of their own   
epoch4 ,the art which expresses the     
ambitions and noblest thoughts of its   
time will alone endure4 ,these          
expressions are not applicable to any   
other condition than those which called 
them forth1 and hence in attempting to  
purify the rococo which had existed up  
to the middle of the eighteenth century1
 by a return to classical traditions1   
they were only copying that which their 
predecessors had done1 and in so doing  
left us without any original expression 
of their own time4  ,into such a        
condition of affairs was ,millet born1  
and he was numbered amongst that little 
band of men which included ,rousseau1   
,corot1 ,dupr1 ,diaz1 and ,daumier1 who 
were to lay the foundations of the      
modern naturalistic school4 ,at the     

outset it was seemingly a hopeless      
struggle they undertook2 a struggle     
against prejudice and influence which   
was only to be brought to a victorious  
culmination after years of struggle and 
disappointment4 ,of this little band1   
,millet was perhaps the best equipped   
for the privations which were necessary4
 ,he came of a peasant stock who        
inhabited ,gruchy1 a small village      
situated in the commune of ,grville1    
close to ,cherbourg4 ,grouped underneath
 the humble roof was the grandmother1   
who had been left a widow fifteen years 
before2 her son1 ,jean ,louis ,nicolas  
,millet1 and his wife and eight         
children1 of which our artist was the   
second4 ,his grandmother appears to have
 been a pious old lady1 whose chief     
delight was in her grandchildren1 to    
whom she taught those religious         
principles which stood them in good     
stead in after life4 ,we are told that  
,millet's father possessed a force of   
character one does not often find       

amongst men in his rank of life4 ,he was
 of a contemplative disposition1 and had
 a keenly developed feeling for natural 
beauty4 ,he possessed moreover a keen   
appreciation of music1 which            
unfortunately he does not appear to have
 had much opportunity of cultivating4   
,his wife was an excellent housewife and
 of a religious turn of mind4 ,the house
 they occupied1 situated quite a short  
distance from the sea1 was placed in a  
tract of country which1 whilst it had   
rugged and picturesque features1 was not
 of a nature which would yield          
extraordinary results under cultivation4
 ,it was1 therefore1 a hard struggle for
 existence which ,millet in his first   
years saw going on around him4 ,not that
 the family were any the less happy for 
having to work laboriously for their    
livelihood4 ,they had been brought up   
amidst such surroundings2 their wants   
were simple and easily gratified1 and   
the tranquillity of the mnage more than 
counterbalanced those doubtful luxuries 

which easier circumstances would have   
brought their way4 ,throughout his life 
,millet maintained the extreme          
simplicity he had seen practised in the 
home of his childhood1 and long years   
afterwards he was accustomed to look    
back with pleasureable memories upon his
 early years4      ,illustration3       
,,plate ,,iv4--,,the ,,gleaners         
7,in the ,louvre7      ,one of the most 
popular pictures of the master1 and by  
many     considered his masterpiece4 ,we
 know that this work involved an        
unusually large amount of thought and   
work on the part of the     artist4     
,separate studies exist of all the      
figures in many     different poses4    
,not the least wonderful part is the    
background1     with its crowd of       
harvesters1 enveloped in the golden     
sunlight     of a warm summer afternoon4
 ,the ,gleaners is one of the best      
preserved of the large canvases of      
,millet4  ,gruchy1 situated in one of   
the wildest parts of ,normandy1 feels   

the full effect of every storm which    
blows up from the ,atlantic4 ,there is  
nothing to shelter the exposed hamlets  
studded along the coast from the fury of
 the western gale1 and the rocks are but
 too often strewn with the wrecks of    
vessels which have come to grief in that
 terrible sea4 ,millet in his youth must
 have witnessed many of these           
catastrophes4 ,quite a number of        
drawings by him are extant representing 
succour being extended to some vessel in
 difficulties1 or the hauling up of some
 wreckage on to the rocks4 ,the studious
 boy must have been impressed as he saw 
the sternness of the combat in his      
native country between men and nature2  
the wind-swept fields1 and hills bare to
 the point of savageness4 ,the very     
trees themselves dwarfed and gnarled2 in
 their struggle with the elements they  
have been made tough and hardy as the   
inhabitants of the country themselves1  
and1 stunted as they are1 yet show well 
that they can resist the force of the   

fiercest storm4 ,the brooding and       
contemplative character of the father   
having descended to the son1 we can     
quite imagine the effect such           
surroundings would have upon him4 ,as he
 looked back in after years upon his    
roamings in his native country1 he      
appreciated the awe-inspiring character 
of the scenery in which he had been     
born4 ,he would doubtless recall many a 
walk amidst the fields with the wind    
blowing in his face as it rushed in from
 the ,atlantic1 the rain beating hard   
upon the freshly ploughed fields1 and   
the distant figure of the ploughman     
struggling hard with his team against   
the stiff sou'wester4 ,the great mass of
 vapour overhead whirled before the     
violence of the storm1 casting grey and 
pearly light over the whole scene1      
whilst far away on the top of the hill a
 clump of trees1 bent with their        
resistance to the wind1 are silhouetted 
against the sky4 ,many a drawing of this
 kind we encounter in the later work of 

,millet1 which shows how his thoughts   
harked back in certain moments to the   
scenes he had left behind him for ever4 
,we know that on one or two occasions he
 returned to ,gruchy4 ,once or twice he 
had urgent business which took him back1
 but sometimes he went with no other    
purpose than to renew acquaintance with 
the scenes of yore4  ,little ,jean      
,franois was his grandmother's          
favourite4 ,it was she who taught him   
the names of things which surrounded    
him1 and perhaps directed his thoughts  
in the channels to which they were      
finally to be devoted4 ,her brother     
,charles1 who formed one of the family1 
used to take him for walks1 telling him 
stories on the way4 ,millet was         
devotedly attached to this old man1 and 
when at the age of seven years he lost  
him1 the gap in his life thus left made 
an impression upon his memory never to  
be effaced4  ,five years afterwards he  
was placed in the hands of the vicar for
 the purpose of preparing him for his   

first communion4 ,the good man seems to 
have been taken with the child2 he found
 him so attentive to all natural        
phenomenon which was passing around him 
and intelligent in an unusual degree4   
,he quickly learnt a considerable amount
 of ,latin1 which introduced him to the 
great classics4 ,unfortunately for      
,millet1 the vicar accepted an offer of 
transference to a better parish in the  
vicinity4 ,the boy had made such        
progress with his master that it was    
decided that he should go with him to   
his new abode4 ,he was1 however1 so     
missed in his own home1 that when he    
came back for his first holidays it was 
decided that he should not return4  ,he 
now gave serious attention to the       
agricultural pursuits of his father4 ,he
 threw himself heartily into the work of
 the farm1 and assisted in the work of  
sowing and harvesting1 of pruning and   
thrashing according to the season4 ,his 
spare time was occupied in reading with 
avidity various masterpieces of         

literature4 ,the authors he found at    
hand were such as ,fnlon and ,bossuet1  
but he developed a decided preference1  
which lasted till the end of his life1  
for ,virgil and the ,bible4  ,it was at 
this time that his taste for art began  
to be developed4 ,he drew the objects he
 found around him1 and soon acquired    
sufficient confidence in his skill to   
execute a large drawing representing two
 shepherds keeping guard over their     
sheep4 ,these first efforts date from   
about his seventeenth year1 and foretell
 the advent of the style in which he was
 later to become pre-eminent4           
,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,the       
,,straw-,,binders      7,in the ,louvre7
      ,the wonderful capacity of ,millet
 for portraying action is               
demonstrated to the full in this canvas4
 ,hard1 unremitting toil     is the     
theme ,millet has wished to bring before
 us4 ,the heat is     intense1 but the  
work goes on with unrelaxing vigour4    
,the     masculine energy of the two    

bending figures are in striking         
contrast with the figure of the young   
girl on the left of the     picture4    
,the artist shows that he was quite     
capable of infusing     charm into his  
peasant studies as well as bringing the 
brutalising aspect of their labour      
before the spectator4     ,,iii  ,,the  
,,migration ,,to ,,paris   ,how         
frequently has it happened that the     
first years in the life of a genius have
 been employed in labour quite different
 from that to which they should have    
been directed4 ,such a state of affairs 
the more often occurs when the sense of 
duty has been strong enough to overcome 
temporarily the inclination to pursue   
the natural bent4 ,in the case of       
,millet1 however1 the early years which 
he devoted to the farm and its pursuits 
were by no means wasted4 ,it is on      
record that he became very proficient in
 the various duties in which he was     
engaged1 but at the same time we can be 
quite sure that his extraordinary       

faculties of observation were constantly
 being brought into play1 and the fruits
 of his observations are to be seen in  
the pictures of his mature period4  ,a  
considerable portion of his spare time  
was taken up with drawing1 not only the 
persons and objects he found around him1
 but also subjects suggested to him by  
the books he was in the habit of        
reading4 ,his family1 so far from       
throwing any obstacles in his way1      
encouraged him4 ,in fact it was his     
father who took him first to ,cherbourg 
in order to show a painter of that town1
 named ,mouchel1 the early products of  
his son's genius4 ,the decision at which
 ,millet pre had arrived was prompted by
 a drawing in charcoal of an old peasant
 walking along the road1 which had      
struck him forcibly as being a work of  
extraordinary merit4 ,it says much for  
,mouchel's breadth of mind that he was  
equally impressed with the drawings4 ,a 
man who had been brought up in the      
school of ,david1 and who had lived in  

one of the most reactionary periods of  
,french art1 was hardly to be expected  
to take kindly to a style so            
diametrically opposed to all the        
traditions into which he himself had    
been inculcated2 certainly the young    
,millet1 who had now arrived at the age 
of eighteen1 had not developed the      
extraordinary freedom which his works of
 ten years later demonstrate4 ,but there
 was sufficient originality even in his 
early drawings to call forth            
condemnation from a man who had been so 
saturated with the teaching of ,david4  
,he prevailed upon ,millet to leave his 
son with him1 and set him to work to    
copy many well-known works of art which 
he brought before his pupil by means of 
engravings4 ,two months were spent in   
this way when news reached ,millet that 
his father had been seized with sudden  
illness1 and he was obliged in the      
circumstances to return to ,grville4 ,he
 arrived to find the old man            
unconscious1 and very shortly afterwards

 he died4  ,this misfortune awoke in    
,millet a sense of duty which compelled 
him to desert his studies in ,cherbourg 
and superintend the management of the   
farm4 ,for some time he devoted himself 
entirely to his new duties1 but the     
struggle betwixt duty and genius        
continued2 he gave himself to his work  
with all the energy at his disposal1 but
 his thoughts were ever wandering to his
 art4  ,added to his own inclinations1  
his grandmother1 who perceived his      
extraordinary gifts1 strongly persuaded 
him to devote his attention entirely to 
art1 and consequently after some little 
time he decided to return to ,cherbourg4
 ,here he entered the studio of ,m4     
,langlois1 an artist whose reputation in
 the town was considerable4 ,again in   
this worthy man he came in contact with 
a painter who had been brought up       
entirely under classical influence4     
,langlois1 who had in his early days    
been a pupil of ,gros1 had absorbed the 
classical tradition to such an extent as

 to be incapable of appreciating any    
other style4 ,he appears to have        
endeavoured to mould ,millet in his own 
method rather than develop the latent   
genius which the latter possessed4 ,the 
incompatibility of these two men        
speedily caused the younger to strike   
out in his own way4 ,he saw more good in
 frequenting the museums and making     
copies of such works as appealed to him 
than in listening to the advice of his  
teacher4 ,all this occurred1 however1   
without any breach of friendship        
occurring4 ,on the contrary1 ,langlois1 
after perceiving the futility of        
inducing his pupil to follow in his     
footsteps1 did all he could to advance  
his interests4  ,by means of his        
influence some of ,millet's drawings    
were brought before the ,municipal      
,council1 and ,langlois suggested that  
,millet should be sent to ,paris in     
order to further his development1 and   
that the ,council should set aside a    
modest pension to meet his requirements 

in that city4 ,the discussion appears to
 have been very prolonged1 and upon the 
question being put to a vote it was only
 carried by means of the casting vote of
 the mayor4 ,four hundred francs was at 
first allotted to him in this way1 which
 was further increased shortly          
afterwards to six hundred4 ,such        
encouragement1 meagre though it was1 was
 sufficient to give him a foothold in   
the metropolis4 ,he left ,cherbourg in  
,january #ahcg1 on a cold and raw day1  
the snow falling heavily throughout the 
entire journey1 and arrived in ,paris in
 a very disheartened condition4 ,the    
miserable weather1 coupled with the long
 journey in which he had had time to    
think of the small sum which lay between
 him and starvation1 going to a city    
which he had never seen before1 had all 
served to work upon his nerves1 and he  
entered the great city sick at heart and
 very despondent4  ,one of the first    
visits he made after he was somewhat    
settled down in ,paris was to the       

,louvre4 ,here he was brought into      
contact for the first time with many    
masters1 who were to mould his yet      
plastic temperament into the form which 
enabled him to give to the world1 in    
later years1 so many masterpieces4 ,as  
,i have said before1 it was ,mantegna   
who first captivated him1 and the       
influence of the mighty ,paduan was     
never finally to be shaken off4 ,michel 
,angelo awed him with his sublimity2 his
 classical severity tempered with       
intense humanism1 his masculine         
strength1 were bound to have their      
effect upon so serious a character as   
,millet4 ,strange as it may seem to     
those who are but superficially         
acquainted with his art1 and are only   
too apt to judge him by the influence he
 has had upon modern ,french painting1  
he was fascinated with the antique4 ,the
 traditions of ,phidias and ,praxiteles1
 in the form in which they had been     
transmitted through the greatest minds  
of the ,renaissance1 were ever the      

factors which guided him throughout his 
career4 ,it was this same spirit which  
impelled his fervid admiration for      
,nicolas ,poussin1 a master who to-day  
is sadly underrated and but little      
understood4 ,it was the mysteries of    
line1 the wonders of pose and           
composition rather than the magic of    
colour which appealed to him4 ,he had a 
profound admiration for the glowing     
canvases of ,titian and ,rubens1 but he 
could never overlook entirely their     
defects of drawing or1 in the case of   
,rubens1 the tendency to vulgarity4     
,from his remarks in after years it     
would appear that he was baffled with   
the mysticisms of ,velazquez and        
,rembrandt2 pure painting itself could  
never hold him4 ,he needed to grasp the 
message which lay behind it before he   
felt fully taken into the confidence of 
the painter2 and as the minds of the    
,dutchman and the ,spaniard ran in quite
 different channels to his own1 they    
spoke with a language he never          

understood4 ,that he had a perceptive   
and critically independent mind may be  
gauged from his enthusiasm for          
,delacroix1 whose work he encountered   
for the first time at the ,luxembourg4  
,during this period of study he was     
carefully considering under what master 
he should place himself4 ,his choice    
unhappily fell upon ,delaroche4 ,to any 
one acquainted with the work of the     
latter master1 a more unsuitable        
selection could not have been made4     
,delaroche and the painters who         
surrounded him can be appropriately     
described as constituting the back-wash 
of the ,empire style1 which had reached 
its climax with ,david4 ,his subjects   
were always treated with academic       
reserve4 ,no pyrotechnics were          
permitted2 on the contrary1 an          
everlasting and mistaken striving for   
finish was encouraged3 originality was  
sternly suppressed4 ,to paint human life
 as it really was1 was too vulgar for   
any of the painters of this time4 ,they 

held the public taste enslaved for      
years4 ,an innovator such as ,millet was
 destined to become found his position  
almost untenable4 ,the band of critics  
and painters formed a monopoly which it 
seemed almost impossible to break down1 
and it was only after years of bitter   
and determined struggle that the school 
of nature finally routed its opponent4  
,delaroche doubtlessly found the peasant
 painter a little rude both in his      
person and in his ideas about art4 ,he  
paid but little attention to the young  
man who had placed himself in his hands1
 and devoted all his time to students   
who were more amenable to his influence4
 ,a temperament so sensitive as         
,millet's was bound to notice this      
neglect1 and consequently after a time  
he became so discouraged that he ceased 
to frequent ,delaroche's studio4        
,another very good reason for this      
action was the lack of resources to     
continue his payments4 ,even during the 
time he had been with ,delaroche he lost

 no opportunity of turning a few honest 
francs by painting the portraits of any 
who could be got to sit to him4         
,delaroche1 however1 had a more kindly  
heart than ,millet imagined4 ,he seems  
to have found out the real distress of  
the young artist1 and to have assisted  
him pecuniarily in many ways1 and there 
is no doubt that he appreciated the     
talent of the young ,norman much more   
than he cared to own4 ,many of his      
remarks on record would serve to show   
that ,delaroche already felt that his   
pupil was destined to be one of the     
leaders of the movement which was       
finally to overthrow his own style1 and 
doubtlessly felt a great admiration for 
a man who had the courage and strength  
to swim against rather than with the    
current4      ,illustration3 ,,plate    
,,vi4--,,spring      7,in the ,louvre7  
,it is probable that ,millet wished this
 picture to be regarded     rather as a 
symbolical representation of ,spring1   
than as an     actual study from        

,nature4 ,the storm that has just passed
 over     has been severe1 but of short 
duration4 ,the sun1 breaking     through
 the dense banks of clouds1 reveals the 
splendours of the     water-sodden      
landscape2 the apple-trees full of      
bloom1 the     verdantly green grass1   
the young foliage on the distant trees1 
all reveal the benefit they have        
received from the downpour4     ,,iv    
,,the ,,struggle ,,for ,,recognition    
,freed from all encumbrances save       
poverty1 ,millet was now to work out his
 own destiny according to the dictates  
of his genius4 ,he joined a friend named
 ,marolle1 and the two together         
occupying a very small apartment        
endeavoured to eke out an existence4 ,it
 was only too soon apparent that young  
as he was1 and the taste of the public  
being not yet ready for development upon
 the lines his genius directed him1 that
 his livelihood could not be secured by 
endeavouring to sell such subjects as   
appealed to him4 ,in these straits he   

turned to portrait-painting1 just as    
many great painters before and since him
 have done4 ,that the struggle was very 
keen can well be imagined by the fact   
that he was unable to obtain more than  
five to ten francs apiece2 and1 as      
commissions were very scarce1 he was    
hard put to gain the means of           
subsistence4 ,this state of affairs     
lasted until #ahdj1 in which year he    
endeavoured to obtain admission to the  
,salon with two portraits1 one of which 
was that of his friend4 ,this1 however1 
was rejected1 and the other picture1    
although accepted1 was unnoticed by     
either the critics or the public4       
,having occasion the next year to pay a 
visit to ,cherbourg1 he felt obliged to 
report himself to the ,municipal        
,council who had had the generosity to  
send him in the first place to ,paris4  
,its worthy members expressed themselves
 as but little satisfied with the result
 of their investment2 they claimed that 
they had had as yet but little to show  

for their money1 and they suggested1    
partly as a means of demonstrating that 
they had had some little return1 and    
also1 in order to see of what stuff     
their protg was made1 that he should    
paint a portrait of the recently        
deceased mayor4 ,as ,millet had not been
 personally acquainted with that worthy 
citizen1 and as the only guide which    
could be supplied him was a portrait    
made in miniature when he was a young   
man of some twenty-three or twenty-four 
years of age1 the task was by no means  
easy4 ,however1 the artist set to work  
with a will1 and finally accomplished   
the picture to his own satisfaction4    
,upon it being shown to the ,council1   
one and all declared1 as any one with   
the slightest knowledge of such matters 
could have told them before it was      
commenced1 that it bore not the least   
resemblance to the defunct magistrate4  
,they therefore demurred at the three   
hundred francs they had agreed to pay   
him for the portrait1 and offered him   

one-third of that amount instead4       
,millet was deeply offended by the      
insult1 and informed the ,council that  
he made them a present of the picture4  
,it was during this short visit to his  
native country that he met his first    
wife1 a ,mlle4 ,ono1 whose portrait he  
had painted4 ,from the first she was    
very delicate1 and he lost her after    
much suffering1 three years later4 ,his 
second wife was ,mlle4 ,catherine       
,lemaire1 who was destined to be the    
companion of his struggles until the end
 of his life4  ,meanwhile ,millet was   
occupied with subjects which he thought 
would appeal to the general public4 ,a  
number of classical pictures date from  
this epoch4 ,it was an endeavour on his 
part to fall in as far as possible with 
the current taste1 and so supply means  
of subsistence for his family4 ,at the  
same time he did not neglect his        
favourite subjects1 and many are the    
wonderful studies of peasant life which 
date from these years4 ,his reputation  

had so far advanced that he was offered 
the position of teacher of drawing in   
the college at ,cherbourg4 ,it must have
 been only after prolonged deliberation 
that he refused the proffered post4     
,here a certain annual stipend was      
assured him1 and if it was not large in 
itself it would at any rate suffice to  
keep the wolf from the door4 ,he        
preferred1 however1 to return to ,paris 
and work out his own destiny as best he 
might4  ,millet1 who lived at this time 
in the ,rue ,rochechouart1 began to     
surround himself with that little group 
of friends who remained faithful to him 
until the end of his career4 ,amongst   
the earliest were ,charles ,jacque and  
,diaz3 the latter had several clients   
amongst the small dealers1 whom he      
induced to visit ,millet's studio and   
make now and again a small purchase4    
,millet now became a fairly regular     
contributor to the ,salon1 but generally
 sent some classical or religious       
picture as well as one of his peasant   

subjects4 ,for example1 in #ahdh he sent
 the marvellous study of ,the ,winnower1
 which we all know so well1 accompanied 
by a canvas1 ,the ,captivity of the     
,jews at ,babylon4 ,the latter1 however1
 was so badly received that he utilised 
the canvas upon its return for a large  
picture of a ,shepherdess tending her   
,sheep4  ,in spite of the headway that  
he was making1 the struggle for         
existence seemed keener than ever1 and  
but for the kindness of friends he and  
his family would frequently have        
actually wanted for food4 ,a timely     
advance of one hundred francs obtained  
for him from the ,minister of ,fine     
,arts1 together with a commission from  
the ,state1 for which he was paid the   
sum of eighteen hundred francs1 were for
 some time the only relief he obtained  
from his embarrassments4 ,that he was   
not particular as to how he earned his  
daily bread is apparent from the fact   
that he did not despise an order for a  
shop sign for a midwife1 for which he   

was paid the miserable amount of thirty 
francs4  ,the year #ahdh was not an     
encouraging one for a painter who was   
standing on the threshold of his career4
 ,the whole of ,europe was seething with
 revolution4 ,a repetition of the       
fearful year of #agib was everywhere    
expected4 ,the struggle betwixt reaction
 and property on the one hand1 and      
lawlessness and revolution on the other1
 was being waged with grim              
determination4 ,the issue was for long  
in the balance4 ,one never knew from one
 day to another what was going to       
happen4 ,in such a deplorable state of  
affairs men's minds were running on     
politics and wars rather than upon art4 
,millet amongst the rest was called upon
 to shoulder the musket1 and it can be  
easily imagined with what reluctance he 
did so4  ,paris1 the great centre of    
art1 had yet not afforded him much      
encouragement4 ,life was dear in the big
 city1 and surrounded on all sides by   
bricks and mortar he was not free to go 

out into the fields and study the       
objects which were uppermost in his     
mind4 ,he resolved to escape from it1   
and once having put the plan into       
execution he never returned4     ,v     
,,millet ,,in ,,his ,,maturity   ,the   
,barbizon of #ahej was a very different 
place from the ,barbizon of to-day4 ,the
 world fame of the men who passed a     
quiet and strenuous existence in the    
little village has transformed it into a
 tourist resort1 with restaurants and   
cafs1 the stopping-places for           
waggonettes which in summer bring their 
daily load of sightseers1 eager to see  
the homes of the painters whose names   
are now household words4  ,it would have
 been well-nigh impossible for the      
little band to have chosen a more       
suitable spot for their labours4        
,rousseau and ,millet1 much as they were
 drawn towards each other by the tie of 
a sympathetic disposition and by their  
common interest in art1 yet were widely 
dissimilar from one another in their    

outlook upon art and their methods of   
worship at the common shrine4           
,rousseau--one can see it from every    
picture he painted--loved with all the  
yearning of a passionate and restless   
temperament the inanimate in ,nature4   
,observe with what fidelity he draws his
 trees1 with what caressing tenderness  
his clouds and skies are treated2       
solitude appealed to him above all      
things1 and if here and there he was    
obliged to insert a few figures to      
complete his composition1 one           
instinctively feels that he would rather
 have substituted a group of cattle or a
 flock of sheep4 ,in the glades of the  
forest1 far from the busy haunts of men1
 with the glorious sunlight penetrating 
from above1 the breeze moaning through  
the branches1 he was happy4 ,a wild and 
turbulent temperament such as his not   
infrequently discovers exquisite        
enjoyment amidst such perfect           
tranquillity4      ,illustration3       
,,plate ,,vii4--,,the ,,sawyers         

7,in the ,south ,kensington ,museum7    
,very few of ,millet's works can rival  
this superb picture in     vigour of    
handling and magic of line4 ,he has     
succeeded in     infusing an enormous   
amount of energy into the two figures1  
without sacrificing refinement4 ,the    
absolute stillness of the     wood      
beyond is unbroken1 save by the         
monotonous hacking of the               
wood-cutter1 who1 axe in hand1 is making
 a determined onslaught     upon a      
venerable tree4 ,as an example of       
,millet's powers as a     painter it    
would be hard to beat1 and in it he has 
preserved     those rare qualities of   
freedom and rhythm of line we find in   
his best drawings4  ,barbizon1 situated 
on the fringe of the great forest of    
,fontainebleau1 therefore1 permitted    
,rousseau to come into daily contact    
with the scenes which so appealed to    
him4  ,millet1 on the other hand1 was   
absorbed in the peasant4 ,the man who   
tilled the soil and raised the produce  

humanity requires for its subsistence by
 the sweat of his brow2 the manifold    
duties of the labourer1 his life and    
sorrows1 appealed to him with           
irresistible force4 ,an unpeopled track 
of wild and uncultivated land would not 
call forth any emotion in him1 no matter
 how sublime the scenery might be4 ,the 
life of the village1 spreading itself   
into the vast and fertile plain behind1 
held him absorbed2 a peasant himself and
 living amongst the people he so loved1 
he was in a position to bring before an 
unthinking world the poignant monotony  
of their useful lives4  ,upon their     
first arrival at ,barbizon1 the two     
artists put up at a small inn1 working  
all day in a tiny place they had rented 
from some peasants and fitted up as a   
studio4 ,the inconveniences of this     
arrangement were soon apparent1 and     
shortly afterwards ,millet took a small 
house which was destined to be his abode
 for the remainder of his life2 an old  
barn in the immediate vicinity meanwhile

 provided him with an excellent studio4 
,from this period onward we must date   
the greatest productions of the master1 
the works which have induced more       
thought than those of any other peasant 
painter4 ,a peasant among peasants1 his 
life was of the most rigid simplicity4  
,behind his little abode a large garden 
stretched away almost to the fringe of  
the forest itself1 and here he was      
accustomed to work every morning1       
growing a portion of the food necessary 
to the sustenance of his family4 ,the   
afternoon he devoted to painting1 whilst
 the evening was given over to          
intercourse with his little circle of   
friends4 ,the simplicity and            
tranquillity of his life aroused the    
whole of his powers to action1 and      
surrounded with everything he valued in 
life he was supremely happy4  ,the      
country around ,barbizon appealed to him
 irresistibly4 ,the timber-studded      
plains1 the gently undulating1 highly   
cultivated fields1 presented a strange  

contrast to the wild and rugged country 
amidst which he had spent his childhood1
 and no doubt conduced to the           
development of a more refined and       
contemplative style than he would       
otherwise have acquired4 ,upon his few  
visits to his native country he appears 
to have been more impressed than ever   
with its austerity1 and the drawings    
which these journeys called forth bore  
ample evidence of this feeling in him4  
,lack of the necessary funds to carry on
 even his simple mnage was ever the bane
 of ,millet's life4 ,on many occasions  
,sensier1 his intimate friend and       
afterwards his biographer1 informs us he
 dissuaded him from suicide4  ,the sums 
that he owed1 small though they were1   
rendered him in constant fear of the    
brokers4 ,with creditors so importunate 
in their demands for satisfaction1 and  
with the constant lack of recognition1  
which was his lot1 it is astonishing    
that ,millet achieved so much4 ,he was  
relieved more than once by the          

kind-hearted and ever faithful          
,rousseau1 who when his friend was      
sorest pressed found some delicately    
hidden means to relieve him4 ,it was he 
who acquired for #djjj francs the       
wonderful ,peasant grafting a ,tree1    
when the picture failed to find a       
purchaser2 and in order that ,millet    
should not be aware of his generosity1  
he made the offer in the name of an     
imaginary ,american4 ,this sort of      
goodness he repeated more than once1 and
 it redounds still more to his credit   
when we remember that ,rousseau himself 
was not infrequently in pecuniary       
difficulties4  ,a constant succession of
 important works made their appearance  
during the first ten years ,millet spent
 at ,barbizon4 ,the first was the       
well-known ,sower1 which has ever been  
one of the most popular of his pictures4
 ,then came the far finer ,peasants     
going to ,work1 which for many years was
 in an ,english ,collection4 ,the       
,gleaners1 perhaps the noblest canvas   

the master ever painted1 dates from     
#aheg1 in which year it was seen at the 
,salon2 the celebrated ,angelus followed
 it two years later4 ,the prices which  
,millet obtained for this series of     
remarkable works was fantastically      
small4 ,the ,gleaners brought him a     
paltry #bjjj francs1 whilst he accounted
 himself lucky to encounter an amateur  
who gave him the same sum for the small 
,woman feeding ,fowls4 ,the ,angelus1   
which was never exhibited1 was sold in  
the year it was painted to a ,monsieur  
,feydeau1 an architect1 for #ahjj       
francs4 ,it then passed through several 
hands before the late ,monsieur ,secrtan
 competed up to #afj1jjj francs before  
he became possessed of the prize at the 
,john ,wilson sale4  ,the purchase1     
however1 proved a sound investment1 for 
upon the dispersal of his collection it 
was knocked down for #eec1jjj francs to 
a ,monsieur ,proust1 acting on behalf of
 the ,french ,government4 ,the latter1  
however1 when they gave the commission  

to buy the picture1 had no idea that    
such a high value would be placed upon  
it1 and consequently refused to ratify  
the sale2 a syndicate now came upon the 
scene1 who took it to ,america4 ,the    
price1 however1 proved greater than even
 the millionaires of the ,states were   
prepared to give1 and the canvas again  
returned to ,france1 where it found a   
resting-place in the collection of      
,monsieur ,chauchard1 who paid the      
enormous sum of #hjj1jjj francs for its 
possession4  ,in #ahei ,millet sent two 
works to the ,salon1 a ,woman grazing   
her ,cow1 and ,death and the ,woodman4  
,the latter1 one of the most            
philosophical of ,millet's pictures1    
which to-day is the principal attraction
 of the ,jacobsen ,museum at            
,copenhagen1 was rejected4              
,disappointments of this kind came with 
such systematic regularity to the       
painter that he must have become proof  
against them4 ,he always had bitter     
enemies amongst the critics1 who never  

failed to pour abuse upon his method and
 his subjects4 ,even a number of his    
fellow artists joined in the chorus of  
disapproval4 ,but the vehemence with    
which he was attacked was striking      
evidence of the impression he was making
 and the inward sense of his own powers2
 and the fact that he was working out   
his destiny according to the dictates of
 his own genius supported him against   
this outpouring of prejudice and malice4
 ,the social side of life appealed to   
him more strongly as the years rolled   
on1 and the murmurings which had been   
heard in #ahei as to the socialistic    
tendencies of ,death and the ,woodman   
swelled to a roar when the stupendous   
,man with the ,hoe was exhibited        
fourteen years later4 ,the latter1 one  
of the most virile studies of depraved  
humanity which the world has ever seen1 
has always been a favourite with social 
reformers1 and has inspired one         
remarkable poem4 ,even his most         
implacable critics were disarmed before 

this canvas2 its power was magnetic2 it 
was an inspiration1 soul moving and     
trenchant4  ,his financial difficulties 
never completely dispersed4 ,at one     
time1 in order to insure himself a      
little tranquillity1 he made a contract 
with two speculators1 whereby they were 
to become possessors of all the work he 
produced for three years1 in            
consideration of their assuring him a   
thousand francs a month4 ,a great number
 of ,millet's finest productions passed 
thus through their hands1 including the 
,return from the ,fields and the ,man   
with the ,hoe4 ,the partners were not   
long in quarrelling1 and after a lawsuit
 had been fought1 ,millet was left in   
the hands of a man who frequently would 
not or could not pay him in ready money1
 and whose bills he was frequently      
forced to discount at considerable loss4
  ,one little gleam of sunshine rendered
 his later days happy4 ,this was a      
commission from a ,colmar banker1       
,monsieur ,thomas by name1 who required 

four allegorical compositions           
representing the ,seasons1 to decorate  
his rooms4 ,the artist was overjoyed by 
this piece of good fortune1 and         
immediately commenced a most            
conscientious study of such mural       
decoration as was within reach1 in order
 that he might do full justice to his   
patron4 ,he paid frequent visits to     
,fontainebleau and the ,louvre1 and even
 desired a friend to inquire if he could
 not obtain reproductions of the        
frescoes at ,herculaneum and ,pompeii4  
,in spite of all this elaborate         
preparation1 the subjects were not such 
as appealed to his genius1 and in spite 
of them being well and soundly painted1 
we are told that they presented no      
features which called for special       
comment4  ,he found1 however1 a much    
more genial occupation in accomplishing 
a series of drawings ordered by a       
,monsieur ,gavet1 who paid the artist   
#ajjj1 #gjj1 and #dej francs each1      
according to their size4 ,he made       

altogether ninety-five drawings in this 
way1 and it is said that this gentleman 
had in his possession the finest work in
 black and white and water-colour the   
artist ever executed4  ,towards the     
latter end of his life the death of dear
 relatives and friends cast a sorrowful 
gloom over him4 ,amongst the latter     
,rousseau1 who expired in his presence  
on the #bbnd of ,december #ahfg1 was    
perhaps the loss which seemed to him    
hardest to bear4 ,a staunch and trusty  
friend1 who was to be relied upon when  
his prospects seemed the most hopeless1 
he had been one of the very few who had 
appreciated ,millet's talents at their  
full worth1 and who1 moreover1 scanty as
 his own means were1 was ever ready to  
stretch out his hand to assist his      
struggling friend4      ,illustration3  
,,plate ,,viii4-,,the ,,sheep-,,fold    
7,in the ,glasgow ,corporation ,art     
,galleries7      ,the poetry of         
moonlight has never been better realised
 than by     ,millet4 ,the lonely watch 

of the shepherd1 the huddling together  
of the sheep1 the dreary mystical plain 
stretching away to the     horizon1     
losing itself finally in the vaporous   
atmosphere of the     chilly night1 are 
all rendered with astonishing fidelity4 
,it is     in such works as these that  
the master reveals his sympathy with    
the solitude of many phases of peasant  
life4  ,shortly afterwards ,millet paid 
a visit to his patron1 ,herr ,hartmann1 
at ,mnster1 and from here he went for a 
short time into ,switzerland4 ,upon his 
return he devoted himself with great    
earnestness to work1 and achieved a     
certain success at the ,salons with his 
exhibits4 ,the outbreak of the war with 
,germany caused him to migrate with his 
family to ,cherbourg1 where he thought  
he might continue to work1 removed as   
far as possible from the scenes of      
carnage and struggle which were going on
 farther east4 ,transported once more   
amongst the scenes of his childhood1 he 
felt an increased impetus to production1

 and when he returned to ,barbizon late 
in #ahga1 he brought with him a number  
of canvases of the highest quality2     
conspicuous amongst them was the        
wonderful ,grville ,church1 now in the  
,louvre4  ,the anxieties of his         
troublous life were1 however1 beginning 
to show their effect upon his           
constitution2 a persistent cough        
developed1 and although an amelioration 
would occasionally occur1 it was always 
succeeded by a worse condition than     
before4 ,his health suffered a general  
decline1 and he finally breathed his    
last on the #bjth of ,january #ahge4 ,he
 was buried in the little cemetery of   
,chailly1 beside his friend ,rousseau1  
amidst the scenery they both loved so   
well4     ,,vi  ,,the ,,man ,,and ,,his 
,,art   ,millet is an instance of an    
artist working out his own destiny1     
impelled by irresistible genius1 in the 
teeth of seemingly insurmountable       
obstacles4 ,he started life with        
enormous disadvantages2 without friends 

in influential circles to spread his    
fame or plead his cause2 without money  
to enable him to outlive and triumph    
over the ignorant fanaticism of critics 
and artists1 so soaked in the           
conventionalised art of their time that 
they had not perception enough to       
appreciate the full meaning of that     
naturalistic movement1 which was finally
 to sweep away the quasi-classic art    
they boasted of with such bombastic     
effusion4 ,the path was hard and thorny1
 and his triumph was not finally        
consummated until after his death4 ,he  
himself found his only satisfaction in  
the fact that he had lived his life     
according to the dictates of his genius1
 and had achieved the maximum of which  
he was capable4  ,millet and our own    
,cotman were somewhat kindred spirits2  
there is much more affinity between the 
work of the two men than is apparent to 
any one who has not closely studied     
them4 ,the marvellous ,breaking the     
,clod1 now happily permanently housed at

 the ,british ,museum1 betrays the same 
tremendous conception and broad outlook 
which characterises many a drawing of   
,millet's4 ,both highly strung to a     
painful extent1 they were each conscious
 of their inability to curb the power   
which prescribed a certain course for   
them1 and in spite of pecuniary         
difficulties and unpopularity1 an       
inevitable result of their intense      
originality1 they pursued a steady      
course to the end of their lives4  ,the 
socialistic doctrines which have been   
read into the work of ,millet are rather
 the outcome of the world's uneasy      
conscience being brought face to face   
with a crushing indictment of existing  
conditions1 than of any design on the   
artist's part to further the cause of a 
political propaganda by means of his    
art4 ,this somewhat extravagant reading 
into his art has certainly been carried 
to excess4 ,particularly has such been  
the case in ,america1 where a large     
number of his finest works are at       

present to be found1 curiously enough in
 the hands of enormously wealthy people1
 who are frequently perhaps the least   
able to understand the real meaning of  
his message4  ,coming from a peasant    
stock1 his sympathies were always with  
the peasant2 it was the only class he   
understood or cared for4 ,he lived as   
one of them1 and shared to a large      
extent in their labour4 ,he has been    
designated1 not inappropriately1 the    
philosopher in sabots4 ,rightly or      
wrongly he has come to be looked upon as
 one of the high priests of communistic 
doctrines4 ,few pictures have been so   
anathematised as the ,man with the ,hoe1
 and perhaps none have done more to     
inculcate sympathy with the degradation 
of the lower orders of the human race4  
,the revolting brutality and vacancy of 
that face haunts the imagination4 ,is it
 possible that fellow-creatures so      
utterly debased by toil and neglect     
exist8 ,millet dispels any doubt upon   
the question by bequeathing to humanity 

this trenchant portrait4 ,by no means   
limited to ,barbizon or ,france1 these  
poor creatures exist in every country1  
and curiously enough are considered an  
essential element in each country's     
development4  ,this poignantly human    
note is observable in almost every work 
,millet wrought2 his passionate sympathy
 with his fellow-man is the keynote of  
his art4 ,the wood-cutter in his arduous
 toil1 the shepherd in his solitariness1
 the labourer turning the soil with     
unvarying and laborious monotony1 the   
mother caring for her children--all     
carry the same message for him of that  
strange and incomprehensible mingling of
 joy and sadness we call life4 ,like    
many great minds before and since his   
time1 our artist found the greatest joy 
in life in a placid and never changing  
melancholy4 ,but the peasants he chose  
knew nothing of the sadness he saw in   
them4 ,completely inured to their toil1 
and subdued by it1 with no refining or  
uplifting influence to stimulate them1  

they knew nothing1 aspired to nothing   
beyond what they were2 it was left to   
,millet to supply the might have been4  
,he saw the inky blackness of the mind  
of the ,man with the ,hoe1 the pathetic 
inequality between the mounted farmer   
directing the safe storage of his crop1 
and the stooping figures of the         
,gleaners eager to scrape up the        
miserable crumbs which had fallen from  
the rich man's table4 ,he traced the    
lives of these simple folk until we     
arrive at the grim and gaunt figure of  
,death1 who1 as he grasps the woodman by
 the shoulder1 reminds him that his     
course is finished and that he1 in      
common with all his fellow-men1 must    
enter the great unknown land from which 
there is no return4 ,it is a sad and    
melancholy art1 vibrating with purity   
and truth1 the outpouring of a great    
soul yearning to express itself to the  
utmost of its power4 ,the mind and      
character of the man can be read in     
every line and in every touch of the    

brush4 ,his drawings and etchings are   
even more searching in their virility   
than his pictures4 ,there is a          
spontaneousness about them we search for
 in vain in his work in oil and pastel4 
,in black and white his intensely       
emotional mind found a swift method of  
expression2 in the laboriousness of oil 
painting he was fettered with the       
complications of the medium4 ,it can be 
fairly said that only in one or two     
paintings--a notable example can be     
cited in the wondrous ,sawyers at ,south
 ,kensington--does he rise to the height
 of a great painter4 ,millet was a poet1
 a philosopher1 a great thinker1 and the
 means he chose for expressing himself  
were those which were best fitted to his
 purpose4 ,his predilections in art were
 concentrated upon the greatest1 and    
consequently the men who appealed to him
 were the thinkers of the ages4         
,mantegna and ,correggio1 ,michel       
,angelo and the mighty ,greeks1 these   
were the masters who left their impress 

upon his mind and art4  ,the influence  
of so sincere and profound an artist has
 necessarily been profound4 ,he has     
moulded men who have achieved world-wide
 fame2 ,segantini1 for example1 would   
never have risen to the heights he did  
had the example of ,millet not been ever
 before him4 ,there have been many who1 
without possessing his genius1 have     
endeavoured to follow in his footsteps1 
but successfully as his imitators have  
sometimes caught his style1 their       
productions can never live alongside    
his1 because they lack the real ring of 
sincerity4   ,the plates are printed by 
,,bemrose  ,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,derby and   
,london  ,the text at the ,,ballantyne  
,,press1 ,edinburgh