Ruth in the Field of Boaz

Noon in the harvest field. The reapers sit and lie around their meal in the shade of the stacks. From the left a man leads a woman towards them; she holds her gleanings in front of her and hesitates.

Millet showed the picture at the Paris Salon of 1853 under the title Ruth and Boaz and received a medal for it. The Bible story is told with the farm workers of his own time and without any costume. “At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread” (Ruth 2:14).