Faggot Gatherers Returning from the Forest (recto); Woman Holding Laundry. Study for Washerwomen (verso)

After collecting fallen branches for sale in the village, a routine but exhausting labor in the peasant community of Barbizon, a group of three women emerge from the Fontainebleau forest at dusk. The trees and the trudging women, who carry heavy bundles of sticks (faggots), echo each other in a series of shadowy columnar forms, endowing the scene with the solemnity of a ritual procession. The woman in the foreground drags a long walking stick.