Created by Jean-François Millet from 1856 to 1860. Was exhibited, sold and owned in various private collection by businessman. In 1931, bequeathed by Henry Walters, forming the foundational collection of Walters Art Museum which opened in 1934.
The Sheepfold, Moonlight is a bucolic landscape painting made by Jean François Millet and this is one of the paintings made in a realism style even when it did not exist then. The painting was made from 1856 to 1860 by the artist. Set in a nocturnal scene, we can see, the rays of moonlight flowing upon the sheeps like a drapery of light across the plain which is extending between the villages of Barbizon and Chailly. As he was born into a peasant family, he made this painting, specializing in scenes of peasant life. Overally the painting is dark but we can see how the moon throws light from underside of clouds, unto the sheeps. On he left, we can see the shepherd cloaked, guiding his flock of sheep into their pen called a sheepfold. There is no end to the horizon in the painting, which gives it a view of endlessness even if the canvas is some twenty inches wide. It shows Nature in an immense form. Millet's art form represents the working mechanism of rural life even before it was transformed by large scale machinery. He focuses on themes of sowing, reaping wheat and gleaning in this he chose to put his subject farther than his usual close, medium sized paintings. This oil painting on a wooden panel, carries a heavier weight of portraying the honest realities of peasant life with exceptional accuracy. With subtle gradations of a dark color palette, he beautifully used the beauty of sillouhette of the shepherd. The dreamlike and realistic style of the painting portrays a deeper awareness of existence as Millet wanted people to know the tranquil moments and terrors of the night. He wanted people to hear the songs, silence and murmurings of the air which this painting evokes in its viewer.
Jean-François Millet’s The Sheepfold, Moonlight is a masterpiece that captures the beauty of a simple peasant’s life. The painting displays a calm and solitary countryside moonlit night. Cloaked peasants lead their flocks of sheep to fold while the dark endless plain stretches out ahead of them. Unlike other French painters, Millet did not depict a harsh reality of weather but instead displayed the tranquility and majesty of nature that surrounded ordinary peasants to show its significance in their lives. The painter used dimmed colors to portray a harmonious and vast landscape of the horizon with a gentle light of the moon showering over the folds of the flocks, creating a mystic calmness.
