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character of austerity and dignity, and when Millet's father finally decided to test the vocation of his son as an artist, it was with a gravity and authority which recalls the patriarchal households of Calvinist See also:

France. Two drawings were prepared and placed before a painter at See also:

CHERBOURG

Cherbourg named Mouchel, who at once recognized the boy's gifts, and accepted him as a See also:

PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil; but shortly after (1835) Millet's father died, and the eldest son, with heroic devotion, took his See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place at See also:

home, nor did he return to his See also:

WORK

work until the pressing calls from without were solemnly enforced by the wishes of his own family. He accordingly went back to Cherbourg, but after a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

time spent there with another See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master (See also:

LANGLOIS, HIPPOLYTE (1839— )

Langlois) started with many misgivings for See also:

Paris. The See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council-See also:

general of the See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department had granted him a sum of 600 francs, and the See also:

TOWN

town council promised an See also:

ANNUAL

annual See also:

PENSION (Lat. pensio, a payment, from pendere, to weigh, to pay)

pension of 400, but in spite of friendly help and introductions Millet went through See also:

GREAT

great difficulties. The See also:

SYSTEM

system of the Ecole See also:

des See also:

BEAUX, CECILIA (1863– )

Beaux Arts was hateful to him, and it was not until after much hesitation that he decided to enter an See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official studio—that of See also:

DELAROCHE, HIPPOLYTE

Delaroche. The master was certainly puzzled by his pupil; he saw his ability, and, when Millet in his poverty could not longer pay the monthly fees, arranged for his See also:

FREE

free See also:

ADMISSION

admission to the studio, but he tried in vain to make him take the approved direction, and lessons ended with " Eh, bien, allez a votre See also:

guise, See also:

VOUS

vous etes si nouveau pour moi que je ne veux rien vous dire." At last, when the competition for the See also:

GRAND

Grand Prix came on, Delaroche gave Millet to understand that he intended to secure the nomination of another, and thereupon Millet withdrew himself, and with his friend Marolle started in a little studio in the See also:

RUE (Fr. rue, Lat. ruta, from Gr. pur)

Rue de 1'Est. He had renounced the beaten track, but he continued to study hard whilst he sought to procure See also:

BREAD

bread by See also:

PAINTING

painting portraits at 10 or 15 francs apiece and producing small " pastiches" of See also:

WATTEAU, ANTOINE (1684-1721)

Watteau and See also:

Boucher. In 1840 Millet went back to Greville, where he painted " Sailors Mending a See also:

SAIL

Sail " and a few other pictures—reminiscences of Cherbourg life. His first success was obtained in 1844, when his " Milkwoman and " See also:

LESSON (through Fr. lecon from Lat. lectio, reading; legere, to read)

Lesson in See also:

RIDING

Riding " (See also:

PASTEL

pastel) attracted See also:

NOTICE

notice at the See also:

SALON

Salon, and friendly artists presented themselves at his lodgings only to learn that his wife had just died, and that he himself had disappeared.

Millet was at Cherbourg; there he remarried, but having amassed a few See also:

HUNDRED

hundred francs he went back to Paris and presented his " St See also:

Jerome " at the Salon of 1845. This picture was rejected and exists no longer, for Millet, short of See also:

CANVAS

canvas, painted over it " See also:

OEDIPUS (OiSiirovs, O16tir63i7s, Wines, from Gr. ot&eiv swell, and gobs foot, i.e. " the swollen-footed ")

Oedipus Unbound," a work which during the following See also:

YEAR

year was the See also:

OBJECT

object of violent See also:

criticism. He was, however, no longer alone; See also:

Diaz, See also:

EUGENE

Eugene See also:

TOURNEUX, JEAN MAURICE (1849— )

Tourneux, See also:

Rousseau, and other men of See also:

note supported him by their confidence and friendship, and he had by his See also:

side the brave See also:

Catherine Lemaire, his second wife, a woman who See also:

BORE

bore poverty with dignity and gave courage to her See also:

HUSBAND

husband through the cruel trials in which he penetrated by a terrible See also:

PERSONAL

personal experience the See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter secrets of the very poor. To this date belong Millet's " See also:

GOLDEN

Golden See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

Age," " See also:

BIRD

Bird Nesters," " See also:

Young Girl and See also:

Lamb," and " Bathers"; but to the " Bathers " (Louvre) succeeded " The See also:

MOTHER

Mother Asking See also:

ALMS

Alms," " The Workman's See also:

MONDAY (in O.E. Monandaeg, the moon's day, a translation of the Late Lat. Lunae dies, from which the French lundi is taken)

Monday," and " The Winnower." This last work, exhibited in 1848, obtained conspicuous success, but did not sell till Ledru See also:

ROLLIN, CHARLES (1661-1741)

Rollin, informed of the painter's dire See also:

DISTRESS

distress, gave him Soo francs for it, and accompanied the See also:

PURCHASE

purchase with a See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission, the See also:

MONEY

money for which enabled Millet to leave Paris for See also:

BARBIZON

Barbizon, a village on the skirts of the See also:

FOREST

forest of See also:

FONTAINEBLEAU

Fontainebleau. There he settled in a three-roomed cottage for the rest of his life—twenty-seven years, in which he wrought out the perfect See also:

story of that peasant life of which he alone has given a " See also:

COMPLETE

complete impression." Jules See also:

Breton has coloured the days of toil with sentiment; others, like See also:

COURBET, GUSTAVE (1819-1877)

Courbet, whose See also:

ECCENTRIC (from Gr. F,c, out of, and Kivrpov, centre)

eccentric " Funeral at Ornans " attracted more notice at the Salon of 1850 than Millet's " Sowers and Binders," have treated similar subjects as a vehicle for protest against social misery; Millet alone, a peasant and a miserable one himself, saw true, neither softening nor exaggerating what he saw. In a curious See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter written to M. Sensier at this date (1850) Millet expressed his resolve to break once and for all with mythological and undraped subjects, and the names of the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal works painted subsequently will Show how steadfastly this See also:

RESOLUTION

resolution was kept. In 1852 he produced " Girls Sewing," " See also:

Man Spreading Manure "; 1853, " The Reapers "; 1854, " See also:

Church at Greville "; 1855—the year of the See also:

INTERNATIONAL, THE

International See also:

EXHIBITION

Exhibition, at which he received a See also:

MEDAL (Fr. medaille, from Lat. metallum)

medal of second class—" Peasant Grafting a See also:

Tree "; 1857, " The Gleaners "; 1859, " The See also:

ANGELUS

Angelus," " The Woodcutter and See also:

DEATH

Death "; 1860, " See also:

Sheep Shearing "; 1861, " Woman Shearing Sheep," " Woman Feeding See also:

Child "; 1862, " See also:

Potato Planters," " See also:

Winter and the Crows "; '1863, " Man with See also:

Hoe," " Woman See also:

CARDING

Carding "; 1864, " Shepherds and See also:

FLOCK

Flock, Peasants Bringing Home a See also:

Calf Born in the Fields "; 1869, " See also:

KNITTING (from O.E. cnyttan, to knit; cf. Ger. Knutten; the root is seen in " knot ")

Knitting Lesson "; 1870, " See also:

BUTTER (Lat. butyrum, Gr. 0obrvpov, apparently connected with $ous, cow, and rvpbs, cheese, but, according to the New English Dictionary, perhaps of Scythian origin)

Butter-making; 1871, " See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November—recollection of Gruchy." Any one of these works will show how great an See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence Millet's previous practice in the nude had upon his See also:

style. The dresses worn by his figures are not clothes, but drapery through which the forms and movements of the See also:

BODY

body are strongly See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt, andtheir See also:

CONTOUR

contour shows a grand breadth of See also:

LINE

line which strikes the See also:

eye at once. Something of the imposing unity of his work was also, no doubt, due to an extraordinary See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of memory, which enabled Millet to paint (like See also:

HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

Horace See also:

VERNET

Vernet) without a See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model; he could recall with precision the smallest details of attitudes or gestures which he proposed to represent. Thus he could See also:

COUNT (Lat. comes, gen. comitis, Fr. comte, Ital. conte, Span. conde)

count on presenting free from afterthoughts the vivid impressions which he had first received, and Millet's nature was such that the impressions which he received were always of a serious and often of a See also:

NOBLE, SIR ANDREW (1832- )

noble See also:

order, to which the character of his See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution responded so perfectly that even a " Washerwoman at her Tub " will show the grand See also:

ACTION

action of a See also:

MEDEA (Gr. Mi/Seta)

Medea. The drawing of this subject is reproduced in Souvenirs de Barbizon, a pamphlet in which M.

Piedagnel has recorded a visit paid to Millet in 1864. His circumstances were then less evil, after struggles as severe as those endured in Paris. A See also:

contract by which he See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound himself in 186o to give up all his work for three years had placed him in See also:

possession of r000 francs a See also:

month. His fame extended, and at the exhibition of 1867 he received a medal of the first class, and the ribbon of the See also:

LEGION (Lat. legio)

Legion of See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

Honour, but he was at the same moment deeply shaken by the death of his faithful friend Rousseau. Though he rallied for a time he never completely recovered his See also:

HEALTH

health, and on the loth of See also:

JANUARY

January 1875 he died. He was buried by his friend's side in the See also:

churchyard of Chailly. His pictures, like those of the rest of the Barbizon school, have since greatly increased in value. See the See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article BARBIZON; also A. Sensier, See also:

Vie et oeuvre de J. F. Millet (1874); Piedagnel, Souvenirs de Barbizon, &c. (1876) ; D.

C. See also:

Thomson, The Barbizon School (1891) ; See also:

Richard Muther, J. F. Millet (1905) ; Gensel, Millet and Rousseau (1902). (E. F. S.

End of Article: MILLET, JEAN FRANCOIS (1814–1875)

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