Return from the Harvest by William-Adolphe Bouguereau was created in 1878. The painting is in The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. The size of the work is 240,3 x 170,1 cm and is made as an oil on canvas.
The donkey ride, featured prominently in this painting, offers Bouguereau the opportunity to show his astounding technical skills and classical learning in the representation of an age-old harvest festival. The child riding the donkey is playing the role of the Roman god Bacchus, accompanied by joyful peasants. Additionally, the theme of this painting carries Biblical allusions whereby the child is identified as the young Christ. (Read more in The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens)
About the Artist: French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle. At the age of twelve, Bouguereau went to Mortagne-sur-Gironde to stay with his uncle Eugène, a priest, and developed a love of nature, religion and literature. In 1839, he was sent to study for the priesthood at a Catholic college in Pons. Here he was taught to draw and paint by Louis Sage, who had studied under Ingres. Bouguereau reluctantly left his studies to return to his family, now residing in Bordeaux. Bouguereau became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts… Read more
