Page:François-Millet.djvu/203

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JEAN FRANÇOIS MILLET

wright aptly remarks, in some respects unlike the Roman Campagna. Its details melt into an impression of grand and simple unity. The constant contemplation of these wide horizons with their classical element was well adapted to inspire Millet and to strengthen his natural inclination towards the simplified, the unified, and the abstract. The plain of Fontainebleau was to Millet very much what the Campagna of Rome was to Poussin.[1]

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Friends and enemies alike acknowledged the classic character of Millet's style and spirit.

  1. To note one more point of resemblance between these two masters, it may be remarked that most of the paintings of both are conceived like large pictures and carried out on a small scale, so that they often produce the effect of being reductions from large decorative compositions. This is another result of the power of simplication and generalisation which characterises their genius.

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