Millet's mother worked in the fields with his father all day long. So it was his grandmother who rocked him to sleep and cared for him while he was very little. She was the one who named him Jean after his father, and François after the good St. Francis. She was a religious woman, and almost the only pictures Millet saw when he was a boy were those in his grandmother's Bible. He copied them many times, drawing them with white chalk on the stone wall. This pleased the grandmother very much, and she encouraged him all she could.
When he was eighteen years old Millet drew his first great picture. This is how it happened. As he was coming home from church he met an old man with bent back leaning on a cane as he walked slowly along. Something about the bent figure made Millet want to draw a picture of him. So, taking some charcoal from his pocket, he drew the picture on a stone wall. The people passing by knew at once who it was; they were pleased and told Millet so. His father, too, was delighted, for he himself had once wished to be an artist. He decided that his son should become what he had wished to be; so he sent him to a good teacher.
Millet worked very hard, but for a long time his pictures did not sell, and he was very poor. After a while people saw what wonderful pictures he could paint, and they were glad to let him know how much they thought of him and of his beautiful paintings.
=Questions about the artist.= Who painted this picture? What kind of a man was his father? What did he tell his son about the trees? What did Millet's mother do? Who took care of Millet while his parents worked in the fields? What kind of pictures did Millet have to look at? What did he draw first? Where did he draw? Who helped him? Tell about the old man leaning on a cane. On what did Millet draw his picture? Who saw it? What did they say? What did his father say? What did he wish his son to be? What did Millet do then? What do people think of his pictures now? How many of you like this picture?
=Original Picture:= Turin (t[=u]´´r[)i]n) Gallery, Turin, Italy. =Artist:= Sir Anthony Van Dyck (v[)a]n d[=i]k´´). =Birthplace:= Antwerp, Belgium. =Dates:= Born, 1599; died, 1641.
=Questions to arouse interest.= What are these three little children doing? Who are they? Did you ever have your picture taken? Where did you go to have it taken? Where do you think these children are? Why did they not go to a photographer as we do? Who, do you suppose, brought them to the studio? How are they dressed? How long do you suppose these children had to stand to have their picture painted? How did the photographer tell you to stand? What is the baby holding in his hands? What do you see on the rug in front of the little girl? Why do you suppose the dog sits so quietly near Prince Charles? Which child should you like best to play with? Who painted this picture? Do you like it? why?