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Your galleryThe Sheepshearers
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Find the sheep between the two workers, then compare their bent heads and hands with the straight edges of the work surface.
Two people attend to one animal in this scene of shearing. Millet compresses their bodies around the sheep, making cooperation visible through converging gestures. The rounded fleece stands out against darker clothing and the surrounding farm structures; the task itself supplies the painting’s center rather than an individual portrait.
Oil on canvas · 41.2 × 28.5 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Barbizon School
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Details and source
- Museum title
- The Sheepshearers
- Artist
- Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
- Date
- c. 1857–61
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 41.2 × 28.5 cm (16 1/4 × 11 1/4 in.); Framed: 54.6 × 40 cm (21 1/2 × 15 3/4 in.)
- Credit line
- Potter Palmer 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.