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.  

From Bitter Cocoa Bean To Glorious Chocolate

I had to research my favorite heavenly PMS-thwarting superfood, that of chocolate.  I can’t remember a time when chocolate wasn’t my favorite sweet treat on the planet, and I’ve never taken the time to research exactly how the stuff comes to be.  The process was eye-openingly grueling, all that had to be done just so I could stuff my face with the concoction of glory and goodness was more than I had ever imagined.

I knew that chocolate came from the cocoa bean, but I did not know that the cocoa bean trees only grow in specific countries, a narrow belt around the equator in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.  The cocoa bean prefers the tropical heat of the equator over the frigid ice of the poles.  Once the cocoa pod (each pod contains 40 to 50 cocoa beans) is fully grown, they are picked, after which they peel the pod and let the beans dry out for 6 or 7 days.  

Cocoa pods (https://www.infusionchocolates.com/aboutchocolate.php)

When this is accomplished, they are sorted, packaged, and shipped to chocolate-producing factories all over the world.  At the chocolate factories, the beans are cleaned, dried, and the shells removed, revealing a cocoa nib.   These nibs are roasted and then ground into a fine liquid, cocoa liquor.   Ingredients such as milk, vanilla, etc., can be added to the liquor, which is then rolled into a dough and ground into a powder.   The powder is put into a machine called a conch which plows the chocolate powder around, eventually giving it it’s velvety smoothness.  After it’s been tempered and cooled, it’s read to be molded and made into the chocolate concoctions that we are so used to.

That’s a long process just so I can spend 2 minutes eating a candy bar.  I have learned that I should never take for granted the food that we are provided with, whether it be the healthy stuff that keeps us alive and moving or the indulgent, once-in-a-while stuff like chocolate.  No matter what it is, someone worked hard to bring it to my plate.  

Works Cited

"DB Infusion Chocolates." Chocolate's Journey from Bean to Bar; Chocolate History, Health Facts and How to Taste Chocolate. DB Infusion Chocolates, 2015. Web. 27 May 2015.