The Last Gleanings

Maker Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (French, 1827 - 1906)

Collections

European Painting Highlights

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1895

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions36 1/2 x 55 in. (92.7 x 139.7 cm.)

DescriptionIn the foreground of this painting are three women representing the three ages of humankind—youth, maturity, and old age. They are all involved in what is called gleaning, a charitable activity that allowed the poor and destitute members of a community to collect leftover material after a commercial harvest.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextLike other 19th-century French painters such as Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet, Breton was interested in themes of social realism. Many of his paintings, like this one, show peasants working in the fields. The sunset, as well as the activity of gleaning, the final gathering of remnants of wheat that marks the end of the harvest, can be seen as a metaphor for the passage of time. Breton’s inclusion of a young girl, mature woman, and elderly gleaner reinforce this theme.

Object number7.15