Glaneuse 1894

William Bouguereau painted this portrait of a young gleaner, or Glaneuse, in France, at a time when rural life was undergoing enormous change. Looking at the image, it's easy to see the artist's academic training in his smooth brushwork and idealized depiction of peasant life. But what does it mean to portray the rural poor in such an elegant way? Gleaning, the act of collecting leftover crops after the harvest, was a right of the poor, but also a reminder of their place in the social hierarchy. Bouguereau presents us with an idealized vision of the countryside, yet the young woman's gaze hints at a more complex reality. To fully understand this image, we must consider its cultural context by exploring the journals, statistics, and literature of the time. We can then appreciate how it reflects the social structures of 19th-century France.