In the Vineyard
Jean-François Millet
(French, 1814–1875)
1852–53
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions37.5 x 29.6 cm (14 3/4 x 11 5/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession number17.1487
On View
On viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
The architect Alfred Feydeau commissioned his friend Millet to paint a series of works highlighting the four seasons. "In the Vineyard," representing springtime, symbolizes the traditional notions of growth and new life. Working to ensure a fruitful harvest, a hunched man in the foreground ties a grapevine to a stake; another, emerging through the tall green vines, hammers stakes into the ground.
InscriptionsLower right: J. F. MilletProvenanceAbout 1852, commissioned from the artist by Alfred Feydeau, Paris [see note 1]. Alfred Sensier (b. 1815 - d. 1877), Paris; December 10-18, 1877, posthumous Sensier sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, lot 45, sold for fr. 9000. Quincy Adams Shaw (b. 1825 - d. 1908), Boston; 1917, gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr. and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton, to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 29, 1917)
NOTES:
[1] Spring, in the series of the Four Seasons commissioned by Feydeau.
NOTES:
[1] Spring, in the series of the Four Seasons commissioned by Feydeau.
