Focus on The Winnower (Millet) and discuss the History.
The first version of The Winnower was presented in the Grand Salon during the Salon of 1848, at the same time as The Captivity of the Jews of Babylon. If this work, as an history painting, was intended to attract buyers, the first marked Millet's entry into a new genre: the painting of peasant daily life. Indeed, with this representation of a winnower, Millet turns away from his literary and artistic references to offer works directly inspired by the peasant life, a vein that he will pursue from 1849 by settling in Barbizon. Furthermore Millet also produced at least two other versions of the work. The first, much smaller, is on display at the Louvre Museum, and the second is at the Musée d'Orsay.
Musée d'Orsay Barbizon Louvre Louvre Museum winnower