JEAN FRANÇOIS MILLET
gradually drawn near to him and become intimate with him, as may be seen by the affectionate letter printed above, saw an image of the cares that besieged Millet at this season in that fine and serious picture—one of the very purest he ever painted—the Peasant grafting a Tree. Rousseau was moved to tears by it. He saw in it a symbol of a father exhausting himself in silence for the life of his family. "Yes, Millet works for those who belong to him," he said, "he exhausts himself like a tree that produces too much blossom and fruit; he wears himself out to keep his children alive. He grafts the shoots of a civilised branch upon a sturdy wild stock, and thinks, like Virgil:
'Insere, Daphni, pyros; carpent tux poma nepotes.'"[1]
His poverty reached such a point that Millet had but two francs left.
Rousseau succeeded in making his friend known to some picture-lovers and they bought some drawings and paintings from him.
- ↑ Engraft your pear-trees, Daphnis; your grandchildren will eat your apples.
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