JEAN FRANÇOIS MILLET Les Disciples d'Emmaüs. Circa 1838–44.
JEAN FRANÇOIS MILLET
(Gruchy 1814–1875 Barbizon)
Les Disciples d'Emmaüs. Circa 1838–44.
Charcoal.
Upper right with later inscription: Millet.
54.5 × 42 cm.
Provenance:
- With Galerie Meissner, Zurich, no. 3830b (backing cardboard with label).
- Private collection, Austria, probably acquired from the above gallery.
- By inheritance, private collection.
- Austrian private collection, acquired from the above.
The present large-format drawing is a study on the subject of the 'Disciples on the road to Emmaus'. Millet transfers the biblical scene to his own time and depicts the travellers in the clothing of French peasants, equipped with staffs, cloaks and baggage.
The composition is closely related to a drawing in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, showing three men walking together. The two figures in the present study largely correspond to the two men depicted on the right in the Boston work.
Alexandra Murphy proposes a date of circa 1838–44 for the present work and emphasises its art historical importance. It thus belongs to an early phase of Millet's oeuvre, from which only a few works survive.
We thank Alexandra Murphy for her kind assistance in cataloguing the present work.
JEAN FRANÇOIS MILLET
(Gruchy 1814–1875 Barbizon)
Les Disciples d'Emmaüs. Circa 1838–44.
Charcoal.
Upper right with later inscription: Millet.
54.5 × 42 cm.
Provenance:
- With Galerie Meissner, Zurich, no. 3830b (backing cardboard with label).
- Private collection, Austria, probably acquired from the above gallery.
- By inheritance, private collection.
- Austrian private collection, acquired from the above.
The present large-format drawing is a study on the subject of the 'Disciples on the road to Emmaus'. Millet transfers the biblical scene to his own time and depicts the travellers in the clothing of French peasants, equipped with staffs, cloaks and baggage.
The composition is closely related to a drawing in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, showing three men walking together. The two figures in the present study largely correspond to the two men depicted on the right in the Boston work.
Alexandra Murphy proposes a date of circa 1838–44 for the present work and emphasises its art historical importance. It thus belongs to an early phase of Millet's oeuvre, from which only a few works survive.
We thank Alexandra Murphy for her kind assistance in cataloguing the present work.
