The Gleaners
The artist
Jean-Francois Millet, a French painter who liked to show the daily life of country workers.
What you see
Three women bend down in a wide golden field, gathering leftover grain after the harvest.
The story
Millet painted it in 1857 to honor hardworking farm women who collected the grain left on the ground.
The style
He used warm, earthy colors and simple, solid shapes to make the ordinary women look strong and dignified.
Look closer
Look in the background: you can see a big harvest with tall haystacks and many busy workers far away.
Where to see it
This painting hangs at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France.
Fun fact
Gleaning meant picking up the last bits of grain by hand, which helped poor families have enough to eat.