Farm at the Monastery (La ferme de l'abbaye) 

Alphonse Legros created this etching, Farm at the Monastery, in nineteenth-century France. It portrays a scene of rural life, but it also prompts us to reflect on the changing role of religious institutions in French society. Notice how the farm buildings are nestled in the landscape, almost as if they are a natural part of it. In contrast, the monastery looms in the background, a reminder of the power and authority of the church. In France at this time, there was intense debate about the role of the church in public life, especially in education. The Republican movement sought to diminish the church’s influence and create a secular system of schooling. Legros’s image reflects these debates. Is the farm a symbol of a new, more democratic society? Is the monastery a relic of an older, more authoritarian one? To understand the painting better, one could research the history of the Republican movement in France and the debates about secular education. The meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional context.