Woman with a Rake

"Woman with a Rake" is a significant oil on canvas painting created by Jean-François Millet between 1856 and 1857. This powerful work belongs to a series of studies depicting the intense labor of rural women on French farms during the mid-19th century. Millet, an influential figure in the Realist movement, meticulously rendered the solitary figure engaged in persistent agricultural labor, highlighting the dignity and hardship inherent in the lives of the working class.

The composition centers on the woman, solidly grounded, whose profile is silhouetted against a bright, expansive background. Her heavy clothing and fixed posture communicate the routine monotony of fieldwork. The details of the surrounding environment, including massive, loosely rendered haystacks, emphasize the scale of the environment and the manual effort required. The technique employed by Millet utilizes subdued earth tones and broad, deliberate brushstrokes, giving the canvas a serious, monumental quality despite its size. While outwardly focusing only on farm work, the painting reflects the period's cultural shift toward acknowledging and valorizing the often-overlooked lives of agricultural workers.

This masterful painting is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Millet’s enduring commitment to depicting rural life ensured his lasting popularity, and today, works like Woman with a Rake are frequently referenced in studies of 19th-century French art. Because the painting is now firmly established in the public domain, high-quality prints and reproductions of this iconic scene of female labor are widely available for study and appreciation.