This painting was unusual for its time for several reasons.
The painter, Jean Michelin, was most certainly not commissioned to paint this, as he would have been were the family wealthy, nor were there any guarantees he could sell a “compassionate” painting of peasants. Secondly it was a realistic depiction of the peasant class, without leaning into the usual contemporaneous iterations of tawdriness. Thirdly, it showed peasants, not in town, but in an urban setting. There is another Jean Michelin painting, and further discussion here.
At the time, peasants were considered not much better than animals. Yet despite the tattered clothes, the people in this painting look toward the viewer with a mix of quiet desperation, and dignity.
More of my ekphrastic poetry here. The form is echo verse.
The Baker’s Cart
Come buy the bread, the baker is here. Hear
from him how his clothes are threadbare. Bear
with his stories, see the callous on his hand. Hand
coin to his wife for a spoonful of cure-all. All
night he baked, rye, buckwheat, barley. Lee
of the market, out of the wind – Come buy! By
dawn they arrived, by dusk they’ll depart, part
hungry, part cold, each shoe with a hole. Whole
tattered generations but with hope for their sons. Sons
of the grain, of rough hands that won’t steal. Steel
those sons with milk and rosaries, prayers for peace. Piece
of silver, piece of gold? Even a piece of coal. Coal
black the hearts who only see dirt on the poor. Poor
baker, bound peasant class – Buy your bread here. Hear!
©elsp 2026
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