The Shepherd's Song

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1891

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On a rocky hillside above the sea, a young figure sits high on the rocks at left. In the foreground three people pause: one crouches with bowed head beside a pot of flowers, one leans chin in hand, and one carries a dark jar. Puvis painted the nearly square canvas in 1891, and the Met bought it in 1906.

Oil on canvas · 41 1/8 x 43 1/4 in. (104.5 x 109.9 cm · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Symbolism

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Shepherd's Song

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Museum title: The Shepherd's Song
Artist: Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French, Lyons 1824–1898 Paris)
Date: 1891
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 41 1/8 x 43 1/4 in. (104.5 x 109.9 cm)
Credit line: Rogers Fund, 1906
Image license: CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artist’s life 1824–1898

Symbolism c. 1880–1910

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Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.