Appreciation of the French Barbizonist painter and Miller's most famous masterpiece, The Evening Bell

Appreciation of the French Barbizonist painter and Miller's most famous masterpiece, The Evening Bell

The Angelus

Author: Jean-François Millet

Year: 1857-1859

Drawing: Oil painting.Canvas Oil on canvas

Size: 55 x 66 cm

Source: Musee d'Orsay, Paris

Vespers shows a peasant couple praying in the twilight when they hear church bells in the distance. Miller himself has emphasized that the mood of this painting is mainly to express the bells. Because when he painted "Evening Vespers", he recalled that when he was working in the fields in his childhood, every night the bell rang, and his grandmother always asked the family to stop working and pray for the poor dead. Religion is essentially "spiritual opium", but in the honest laborer, faith is the "pursuit of morality", that is, "goodness", and they truly believe that "man lives not only by bread", but also by the support of the first ideal. They considered the greed of the ruling class to be shameless and contrary to "god's will." They do not see that religion, in exhorting people to live in poverty, is actually defending the interests of the exploiters. However, from the aspect of the workers' own words and deeds and harsh demands, it reflects the excellent qualities in their character.

"Vespers" has a lasting charm precisely because it profoundly reflects such a complex contradiction. On the picture, as the sun sets, the peasant couple who have worked for a day hear the bells of the church in the distance, drop their work, bow their heads and pray silently. The painters strive to depict their piety, and we are touched by their simplicity and honesty. But the real life reflected in the painting vividly tells people what the result of their piety is- the rudimentary tools, the worn-out clothes, the two small bags of potatoes, they are so isolated against the backdrop of the vast earth. The theme of Vespers is not only the humility and suppleness of fate, but more importantly, people remember the peasants who worked the earth and sweated to nurture sentient beings. In French painting, Miller established a new genre painting that truly reflected the daily life and hard work of peasants, and "Vespers" is a masterpiece of this theme.

About the Author

Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875) was the most beloved painter in the history of modern French painting. His simple and kind artistic language was especially loved by the vast number of French peasants. Born into a peasant family, he showed a genius for painting at an early age, and was encouraged by his teachers to study painting. Representative works include: "The Sower" (1850), "Shepherd Girl" (1852), "The Gleaner" (1857), "Evening Bell" (1859), "The Man With the Hoe" (1863), "Feeding" (1872), "Spring" (1873) and so on.