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Your galleryPeasants Bringing Home a Calf Born in the Fields
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Follow the carrying poles between the two men, then look at the calf nestled in straw and the cow walking behind.
The title identifies the calf as newly born in the fields. Millet makes the practical work of carrying it the center of the scene: two figures hold a straw-lined support while a cow and another figure follow. The horizontal load connects the carriers and gives their movement toward the house a measured rhythm.
Oil on canvas · 81.1 × 100 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Barbizon School
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Peasants Bringing Home a Calf Born in the Fields
- Artist
- Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
- Date
- 1864
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 81.1 × 100 cm (31 15/16 × 39 3/8 in.); Framed: 120.1 × 138.5 × 19.1 cm (47 1/4 × 54 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.)
- Credit line
- Henry Field Memorial Collection
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.