113. The Stone Breakers. Gustave Corbet. 1849 CE (destroyed in 1945) Oil on Canvas.

• Content
  • Peasants are breaking stones down to rubble to be used for paving
  • Poverty emphasized
  • The figures are born poor, will remain poor their whole lives
  • No idealization of peasant life or of the working poor
• Form
  • Large massive figures dominate the composition; a style usually reserved for mythic figures in painting
  • Thick heavy paint application
  • Browns and ochres are dominant hues reflecting the drudgery of peasant life
  • Concentration on the main figures; little in the foreground or background to detract from them
• Function
  • Submitted to the Salon of 1850-1851
  • Large size of painting usually reserved for grand historical paintings; this work elevates the commonplace into the realm of legend and history
• Context
  • Reacting to labor unrest of 1848, which demanded better working conditions
  • Reflects a greater understanding of those who spend their entire lives in misery
  • Courbet’s words: “I stopped to consider two men breaking stones on the highway. It’s rare to meet the most complete expression of poverty, so an idea of a picture came to me on the spot. I made an appointment with them at my studio for the next day.. On the one side is an old man, seventy… On the other side is a young fellow… in his filthy tattered shirt. Alas, in labor such as this, one’s life begins that way, and it ends the same way.”