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The image of a solitary shepherdess tending her flock became a favorite motif in Millet’s depictions of French peasants and laborers. Seemingly lost in thought, she leans against an embankment, staff in hand, catching a moment’s rest. Small-scale canvases like this were attractive to private collectors; Millet sold this work to prominent Boston artist William Morris Hunt.
Shepherdess Sitting at the Edge of the Forest
Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
about 1848–49
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
32.4 x 24.7 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession Number17.1484
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
The image of a solitary shepherdess tending her flock became a favorite motif in Millet’s depictions of French peasants and laborers. Seemingly lost in thought, she leans against an embankment, staff in hand, catching a moment’s rest. Small-scale canvases like this were attractive to private collectors; Millet sold this work to prominent Boston artist William Morris Hunt.
Catalogue Raisonné
Murphy 13
InscriptionsLower right: J. F. Millet
ProvenanceAbout 1853, sold by the artist to William Morris Hunt (b. 1824 - d. 1879), Boston; 1874, sold by Hunt to Doll and Richards, Boston, for Quincy Adams Shaw (b. 1825 - d. 1908), Boston; 1917, gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr. and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 29, 1917)