Woman Feeding Chickens
1846-48
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
45.8 × 38.2 cm (18 1/4 × 15 in.); Framed: 57.2 × 49.6 × 5.8 cm (22 1/2 × 19 1/2 × 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111646
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Jean-François Millet’s *Woman Feeding Chickens* (1846–48) offers a tender glimpse into rural French life during the mid-nineteenth century. Painted in oil on canvas shortly before the artist settled in the village of Barbizon, the work reflects his growing interest in scenes of peasant labor. Millet, a leading figure of the Barbizon school and an early champion of Realism, chose to portray ordinary agricultural tasks with quiet respect rather than romantic idealization. At a time when French society was undergoing rapid industrialization and political upheaval, Millet’s focus on the countrysi...