The Sheepfold, Moonlight

Millet's nocturnal subjects represent a significant dimension of his practice — the same labor-filled world of the Barbizon countryside observed under moonlight rather than daylight, the familiar made strange by the transformation of night. The Sheepfold, Moonlight of 1858, at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, places the nighttime sheepfold at the center of an image that is as much about the quality of moonlight as about the architectural and animal subject. Millet had been exploring nocturnal and crepuscular subjects since the early 1850s, finding in them a melancholy grandeur that suited his temperament and his interest in the spiritual dimensions of rural labor. Night removed the merely picturesque from the scene, leaving only essential forms: the low building, the huddled flock, the vast dark sky with its source of cool light. The Walters Museum has assembled important American holdings of Barbizon painting, and this work is central to their collection.

Moonlight painting requires fundamental revision of the artist's usual palette and tonal relationships. The overall value register drops dramatically, with the lightest lights in the sky and on reflective surfaces still significantly darker than daytime equivalents. Millet handles moonlight through a palette of cool silver-greys, deep blue-blacks, and the occasional warm accent of an artificial light source. Form is described through silhouette and mass rather than detailed modeling.