Jean François Millet

Jean-François Millet (1814–1875) was a French Realist painter best known for his monumental depictions of rural peasant life, most famously 'The Gleaners' (1857) and 'The Angelus' (1857–1859). A founding member of the Barbizon School, he worked in the forest of Fontainebleau and elevated the laboring poor to the dignity of classical subject matter. His work profoundly influenced later artists including Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat.