A Peasant Family
Jean Michelin, A Peasant Family, 1650/1660, oil on canvas, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Binney, 3rd, public domain, 82.82
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
A Peasant Family
- Related Titles
display title: The Poultry Sellers
- Artist
- Date
1650/1660
- Medium
oil on canvas
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
33 1/2 in x 45 in
- Collection Area
European Art
- Category
Paintings
- Object Type
painting
- Culture
French
- Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Binney, 3rd
- Accession Number
82.82
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Several artists named Jean Michelin were recorded in Paris in the seventeenth century. All related and all Protestant, at least one of them fled religious persecution in France to settle at the Protestant court in Hanover.
Michelin's subjects represent the urban working class. The paintings are not anecdotal genre scenes, as street vendor families are shown immobile, calmly meeting the viewer's gaze. Poor but not pitiful, they are the suppliers of provisions on which Paris relies, and the dignity with which Michelin portrays them exemplifies the Calvinist work ethic.
- Exhibitions
2003 The Triumph of French Painting: 17th Century Masterpieces from the Museums of FRAME Portland Art Museum; Birmingham Museum of Art; Meadows Museum