Realism in France

Jean-François Millet

The Angelus

1857–59

Oil on canvas, 55.5 × 66 cm. Musée d'Orsay, Paris

A man and woman stop digging potatoes to pray as the evening bell rings.

• Millet said the idea came from his grandmother, who stopped work to pray whenever the bell rang.
• It became so famous that its sale abroad in 1889 caused an outcry in France; a man slashed it in 1932.
• Prayer appears as part of the working day, in a real field with real tools.

Angelus

a Catholic prayer said at morning, noon and evening when a church bell rings.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain