The Angelus
1857–1859 · Oil on canvas · Musée d'Orsay, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Jean-François Millet (1814–1875)
- Year
- 1857–1859
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 55.5 × 66 cm
- Collection
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris
- Movement
- Realism
A man and a woman stand in a flat potato field at dusk and bow their heads to recite the Angelus as the bell rings from the church of Chailly-en-Bière on the horizon; a fork is planted in the earth, a basket of potatoes sits at their feet and a wheelbarrow waits behind. Millet painted it between 1857 and 1859 for the American collector Thomas Gold Appleton, who never came to collect it; he then added the steeple and changed the title from Prayer for the Potato Crop. He said the idea came from his grandmother, who stopped work in the fields to say the prayer whenever the bell sounded. Faces in shadow, the two small figures take on a monumental calm. In 1889 the Louvre tried and failed to buy it; it went to America, was bought back the following year, and came to the state with Alfred Chauchard's bequest in 1910. It hangs in the Musée d'Orsay.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Two small figures bowing their heads in a dusk field, monumental and calm, for a kitchen, dining room or quiet study at 24×18 in black. An ochre, warm grey or cream wall; it pairs with The Gleaners for two Millet fields.
- Style
- Realism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1857–1859)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 16×12, 24×18, 32×24 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard; 32×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; oak lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Angelus in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Angelus painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
