Winter, 1st plate (L'hiver) 

Alphonse Legros crafted this print, titled 'Winter, 1st plate', capturing a peasant burdened by timber, a stark symbol of labor against the desolation of winter. The crossed timbers immediately recall the Christian cross, but here, instead of Christ, we find an anonymous laborer. This recalls earlier images of the "Christ as labourer". The image speaks to the universality of suffering and the redemptive power of toil found across cultures and ages. Think back to antiquity: Atlas, eternally burdened with the heavens, reappears in the Renaissance, evolving through the Enlightenment, and here, again, in Legros’ print. Each iteration carries the weight of human endurance and the psychological impact of relentless effort. The stooped figure embodies an emotional landscape—a collective memory of struggle etched deep in our consciousness. This motif of burdened figures does not follow a linear path through art history. Instead, it resurfaces, evolves, and is perpetually reinterpreted. In Legros's hands, it becomes a potent symbol of human resilience against the indifferent forces of nature.