Shepherd and his Flock n.d.

Charles Jacque created this drawing, Shepherd and his Flock, using black chalk with stumping and touches of white chalk. Jacque was part of a group of Barbizon school artists who turned away from official academic painting. He chose to portray the French peasantry and the rural landscape that structured their labor. The scene depicts a man guiding a flock of sheep along what appears to be a riverbank with his dog. This naturalistic representation countered the industrial expansion happening in France at the time. Jacque and his contemporaries found value in the depiction of the traditional rural lifestyle. Although seemingly a benign representation of rural life, Jacque’s image emphasizes the socio-economic hierarchy implicit in these types of pastoral scenes, capturing a moment of societal tension through the lens of labor and class.