Jean-François Millet

The artist’s studio (L.1460);

sale, Paris, Millon, 29 June 2012, lot 136;

sale, Paris, Christie's, 1 April 2016, lot 78;

sale, Zurich, Grisebach GmbH, 5 June 2025, lot 163

Wiesbaden, Museum Wiesbaden, Delacroix - Courbet - Ribot, Positionen französischer Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts, 2017-8, no. 54

The subject of this otherwise characteristically vigorous drawing by Jean-François Millet remains somewhat elusive. In prior correspondence dating to 6 January 2005, Alexandra Murphy suggests two possibilities - an illustration of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, or Adam discovering the body of his son, Abel. Both of these subjects align with Millet's work around 1850 which, alongside themes of pastoral life, nature, and portraiture, also began to increasingly embrace subjects of a more biblical and historical nature.