In the main street of the painter’s village close to the forest, the house-studio of Jean François Millet presents the life of a grand master of the Barbizon School.
Born in Gréville-Hague on the Cotentin peninsular in Normandie in 1814, Jean-François Millet arrived in Barbizon in 1849 and lived in a small house in the village with a large garden until his death in 1875. The house was rented from Alfred Sensier, a civil servant in the Ministry for Fine Arts.
The peasant’s son built a large studio bay in the main street. An illustrator of peasant life in the 19th century, he produced his most famous paintings in Barbizon like the Angélus and Les Glaneuses or Le Semeur.
The artist lived in Barbizon with his large family (9 children: 6 girls and 3 boys).
Adopted by his new region, it is from Barbizon, Chailly and in the Fontainebleau forest that the artist drew his greatest inspiration, since recognised as the basis of peasant naturalism.
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