The Sower
Medium
Lithograph with scraping on stone on ivory China paper laid down on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 19.9 × 16.2 cm (7 7/8 × 6 7/16 in.); Primary support: 19.9 × 16.1 cm (7 7/8 × 6 3/8 in.); Secondary support: 35.8 × 27.7 cm (14 1/8 × 10 15/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49846
Art Historical Context
Jean-François Millet's *The Sower* (1851) captures the quiet dignity of rural labor, a hallmark of the artist's Realist style. As a leading figure in the Barbizon School, Millet shifted focus from romanticized landscapes to the everyday struggles of peasants, reflecting mid-19th-century France social upheavals amid industrialization and rural poverty. This lithograph depicts a solitary figure casting seeds across a field at dusk, evoking biblical resonance and the cyclical toil of agrarian life. Printed on delicate ivory China paper laid down on white wove paper, the work showcases Millet's m...