Jean François Millet (1814-1875) was one of the French artists who worked in Barbizon, a village near the forest of Fontainebleau. He specialized in rural and peasant scenes.

Jean François Millet was born in Gruchy near Gréville on Oct. 4, 1814. His parents were peasants, and he grew up working on a farm. In 1837 Millet moved to Paris to study painting. To learn the traditions of classical and religious painting, he entered the studio of Paul Delaroche, a successful academic imitator of the revolutionary romanticist Eugène Delacroix. But Delaroche severely criticized the unsophisticated Millet, and the young artist's official schooling soon ended. He nevertheless stayed on in Paris, supporting himself by making pastel reproductions of rococo masters, occasional oil portraits, and commercial signs.

In 1841 Millet married Pauline Ono, who died in 1844. In 1845 the artist married Catherine Lemaire. During these years Millet continued...