The peasant is utterly idealized, bathed in a golden light and transmuted into an emblem of a vanishing way of life.

Although he shared their enthusiasm for painting fresh, outdoors scenes, Millet also liked to depict the local farmers.

He found the nobility of the peasants, with their lives grounded in the soil, a welcome change from the instability of modern life.

The classically trained Millet was making a powerful political statement with this image, which raised a humble rural scene to the same level as a history painting.

[1] Peasant with a Wheelbarrow was acquired by the IMA in 1949, a gift of the James E. Roberts Fund and the Alumni Association of the John Herron Art School.