The Sheepfold, Moonlight

Description In this nocturnal scene, the waning moon throws a mysterious light across the plain extending between the villages of Barbizon and Chailly. Millet was recorded as saying of the solitary shepherd: Oh, how I wish I could make those who see my work feel the splendors and terrors of the night! One ought to be able to make people hear the songs, the silences, and murmurings of the air. They should feel the infinite. . . . Although educated and trained in Paris, Millet was born into a peasant family from the Normandy region of northern France. Millet drew on this background, specializing in scenes of peasant life. An outbreak of cholera in 1849 forced Millet to leave Paris with his family and settle in the village of Barbizon, where he became acquainted with the Barbizon artists Théodore Rousseau, Virgile Narcisse Diaz de la Peña, Constant Troyon, and Antoine-Louis Barye.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
5/14/1941	Treatment	cleaned; coated
8/06/1991	Treatment	cleaned

Exhibitions

• The Works of Antoine-Louis Barye. American Art Gallery (New York), New York. 1889-1890.
• Cent chefs d'oeuvres des collections parisiennes. Galerie Georges Petit, Paris. 1883.
• Exposition Universelle. Paris. 1867.
• Before Monet: Landscape Painting in France and Impressionist Masters: Highlights from The Walters Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1998.
• Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. 2000-2002.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. 2002-2004.
• The Road to Impressionism: Landscapes from Corot to Manet. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2004-2005.
• In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet. National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston. 2008-2009.
• 19th Century Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. 2010-2011.
• Public Property. 2012.
• Millet and Modern Art: Van Gogh to Dalí. Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, AJ Amsterdam; Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis. 2019-2020.

Provenance Chevalier A. de Knyff [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Vente C (Carlin), Paris, April 29, 1872, no. 19; Mme. William Hooper, 1872, by purchase [via the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel]; William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1884-1887, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] Lower right: J.F. Millet.

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, 1884-1887