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The Sheepfold, Moonlight
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Perhaps encouraged by his developing friendship with Théodore Rousseau, Millet began to concentrate more on landscape settings in the mid-1850s. This painting represents a nocturnal scene on the plain that extended outside the artist's studio between the villages of Barbizon and Chailly. Millet shows a solitary, itinerant shepherd encouraging his flock of sheep into a portable pen. To the left is the movable hut where the shepherd would sleep between April and November, allowing him to act as the nightly guardian of his flock. Such mysteriously lit drawings would later appeal greatly to Georges Seurat.
Millet produced at least five versions of "The Sheepfold, Moonlight," in oil, pastel, and charcoal. The earliest is probably the painting in the Walters Art Museum (Walters 37.30), which has been dated to ca. 1856-58. This drawing can be considered a contemporary or later variant.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Emile Gavet, Paris; sold at Hotel Drouot, paris, June 11-12, 1875, no. 81; bought by Durand; William T. Walters, Baltimore, before 1884; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2024-2025 | Reinstallation 2024: Art and Process. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2005-2006 | The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. |
| 1999-2000 | Drawn into the Light: Jean-François Millet. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, AJ Amsterdam; The Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh. |
| 1998-1999 | Botanical Delights: Floral Motifs in 19th-Century Art. Government House, Annapolis; Strathmore Hall Art Center, North Bethesda; Academy Art Museum, Easton. |
| 1998-1999 | A Discerning Eye: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors. Academy Art Museum, Easton. |
| 1997-1998 | French Master Drawings. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1992 | French Masterworks on Paper. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1983 | A Connoisseur's Portfolio: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors in the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1889-1890 | The Works of Antoine-Louis Barye. American Art Gallery (New York), New York. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 2/18/1983 | Examination | examined for exhibition |
| 1/1/2002 | Treatment | examined for exhibition; re-housed; other |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 × W: 13 in. (22.8 × 33 cm)
Framed: H: 20 9/16 × W: 24 1/2 × D: 1 9/16 in. (52.3 × 62.2 × 3.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1884
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.904
