Jean-Francois Millet (1814- 1875) French, Etching 19th Century This etching by Jean--Francois Millet is titled L’Angelus and depicts two peasants during the potato harvest in Barbizon, with a view of the local church tower in the background. Millet was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in France. He was very familiar with farming life because he lived in a farming community, and as the eldest son, he had to help his father with the farm-work. It is based on a painting he did in 1857 entitled L’Angelus and displayed at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. The painting was commissioned by an American art collector in Boston, but the purchaser never came to collect it, so in 1859 Millet added a steeple and changed the title of the work from Prayer for the Potato Crop to The Angelus. The painting finally went on public display in 1865. The etching itself is printed in gray / brown ink on thin India paper; it is exquisite and protected by tissue guard on top of the etching. The overall size is 12 1/4 x 15 in. wide and the sight size is 8 3/16 x 9 3/4 in. wide. Please note that all sales are final. No refunds will be given under any circumstances.