The Angelus

The Angelus (www.jeanmillet.org)

I chose to analyze a painting by Jean-Francois Millet, titled The Angelus.  Jean-Francois Millet was a French painter born in 1814.  The painter’s father, Jean-Louis had real artistic talent, but as a farmer himself, he was oft-times too busy tilling the fields and tending to the farm to do much with his talent.  Jean-Francois admired his parents piety and devotion.  He developed his father’s eye for the artistic and as a boy, Jean-Francois traced prints from the family Bible and then tried freehand.

An Angelus, in Roman Catholic terms, is a prayer or devotion said at 3 separate times during the day, often including a Hail Mary and signified by the ringing of a bell.  

Jean-Francois completed this particular work in 1859.  When asked in 1865 what his inspiration for the work was he said, “The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed.”  This painting was born of a childhood memory, which could also be constituted as folklore being traditional in nature.  

When I first saw this painting, I did not know the history behind it or what the artist was drawing from when he painted it.  To me it summed up the heart of the farmer.  Hard-working families who slave day and night over their fields and take pride in their work, but they never forget where their blessings come from and are quick to thank God for their bounty and ask him to watch over their life’s work.  To me, it shows the humble, hard-working farmer in a beautiful light. My assumption of what the painting was actually depicting was a bit off, but not by much.  To take time away from the exhausting work of farming to pray 3 times a day when you just want to get it over with and go to bed shows real humility and devotion.  

Works Cited

Millet, Jean-Francois. The Angelus. Digital image. Jean-Francois Millet - The Complete Works. 1859. Web.  

Samaha, Brother John M. "The Painting of a Prayer." The Painting of a Prayer. The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 11 June 2015.