Oil on canvas: 133 x 260 cm(!). Also known as 'Oxen ploughing in Nevers'. After a financial crisis, bad harvests, soaring unemployment and yet another revolution in 1848, the French Republic needed to be rebuilt. Bonheur had already gained a reputation, and she made this painting by commission of the government. It was shown in the Salon where it won her a First Medal. Some have seen this work as a glorification of peasant life or a promotion of animal rights. Bonheur obviously respected and admired animals (the men are almost hidden between te oxen), but this is first and foremost ordinary propaganda. Retour à l’Ordre! Stop the chaos and strife, go to work, and shut up.
Visit > Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
More > Google Arts & Culture.
More > Rosa Bonheur at Wikipedia.
