subjects were drawn both from his immediate surroundings and from the
recollections of his youth. "Since I have never in all my life known
anything but the fields," he said, "I try to say, as best I can, what
I saw and felt when I worked there." It is now a quarter of a century
since the painter's life work ended, and in these years some few
changes have been made in the customs and costumes which Millet's
pictures represented. Such changes, however, are only outward; the
real life of peasant labor is always the same. Seedtime and harvest,
toil, weariness and rest, the ties of home and of religion, are
subjects which never grow old fashioned.

In France the farm labors are shared by men and women alike. The
peasant woman is sturdily built, and her healthy out-of-door life
makes her very strong. She is fitted by nature and training to work
beside the men in the fields. In our first picture we see a young man
and woman starting out together for the day's work.

It is morning, and the early sun illumines the distant plain, where
ploughing has already begun. The light falls on the two figures as
they walk down the sloping hillside.

They are dressed for their work in clothing which is plain and coarse,
but which is perfectly suited for the purpose. The French peasants'
working clothes are usually of strong homespun cloth, fashioned in the
simplest way, to give the wearers entire ease in motion. They are in
the dull blues, browns, and reds which delight the artist's eye. Such
colors grow softer and more beautiful as they fade, so that garments
of this kind are none the less attractive for being old. Ragged
clothing is seldom seen among peasants. They are too thrifty and
self-respecting to make an untidy appearance.