Narcisse Virgilio Díaz de la Peña (20 August 1807 – 18 November 1876) was a French painter of the Barbizon school.

On one occasion, Diaz followed him surreptitiously to the forest, with his wooden leg hindering his advance, but he dodged around after the painter, trying to observe his method of work.

[1] Díaz exhibited many pictures at the Paris Salon, and was decorated in 1851 with the rank of Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d’honneur.

[2] The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds some two dozen works by Díaz, including another version of The Forest of Fontainebleau and many drawings and studies.

[5] Diaz himself had no well-known pupils, but François Visconti emulated his work to some degree and Léon Richet followed markedly his methods of tree-painting.

For a period, Jean-François Millet also painted small figures in avowed imitation of Diaz's then popular subjects.