Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
The Angelus
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This drawing is a later version of Millet's best-known painting (now in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris). A young peasant and his companion pause from their work to say the angelus prayer for the dead. Millet spoke of his intention to evoke the "music" of the distant church bells across the Chailly plain. His accomplished use of crayon is evident in the many shades of gray between the white of the horizon and the black of the peasant's hat.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
D. P. Sellars Collection, London; purchased by William T. Walters (through George A. Lucas as agent), Baltimore, May 11, 1883 [1]; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] The Diary of George A. Lucas, p. 903.
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. |
| 2004-2005 | The Road to Impressionism: Landscapes from Corot to Manet. The Walters Art Museum, 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. |
| 1975 | American Art in the Barbizon Mood. National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington. |
| 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; mounted; other |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 12 1/2 × W: 17 7/8 in. (31.7 × 45.4 cm)
Framed: H: 23 5/8 × W: 28 9/16 × D: 2 5/16 in. (60 × 72.5 × 5.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1884
Location in Museum
Not on view
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.
37.903