This is one of Millet’s many paintings of shepherdesses, a type of figure he would have seen often near his home in the village of Barbizon, at the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau. The girl has brought her knitting to help pass the long hours, leaving the task of watching over the flock to her dog. Her industrious concentration, her centrality to the composition, and the sunny, pastoral setting suggest her harmonious coexistence with nature.
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