Kurzfassung

This article explores an art-historically ecological perspective on Jean-François Millet, focusing on the profane genre after his relocation to Barbizon in 1848. It discusses the thesis, that Millet's depiction of environment and the human within it reflect a conception of naturalness shaped by broader senses of alienation and desires for de-alienation. It seems striking, that Millet aims to construct a 'naturally timeless' alternative world juxtaposed against modern urban-industrial experiences as a strategy for de-alienation. Within this construct of an ostensibly primordial human-environment relationship, notions of a purportedly lost, 'original' humanity are projected onto rural life intertwined with a perceived authentic idea of nature.