The Diggers

Jean-François Millet

c. 1855–56

Etching

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Two men are digging in a field. One man uses a shovel to turn over soil, while the other uses a hoe. To tell the truth, the peasant subjects suit my temperament best; for I must confess, even if you think me a socialist, that the human side of art is what touches me most. -Jean-François Millet A founding member of the Barbizon school of painters in rural France, Jean-François Millet is renowned for his solemn and dignified images of peasant laborers. The son of Norman peasants, Millet was sympathetic to the hardships and frequent poverty of the rural working class, often presenting his subjects in idealized poses and settings intended as veiled criticisms of the excesses and indifference of the bourgeoisie. One of most famous image