Artwork
The Angel and Hagar
The Angel and Hagar is an oil painting by the French Classical Baroque artist Francisque Millet. It dates from 1668 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1668, *The Angel and Hagar* is an oil painting by the Flemish‑French artist Francisque Millet. Executed within the French Classical Baroque tradition, the work is part of the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. It presents a quiet, contemplative moment drawn from the biblical narrative of Hagar and the angel.
Subject & Meaning
The composition shows Hagar seated on the ground, her right arm extended in a gesture of reception, while an angel in a white robe hovers above, offering a cloth. The setting, with trees and a softly clouded sky, reinforces a sense of divine intervention and reassurance, echoing the scriptural episode in which an angel comforts Hagar in the wilderness.
Technique & Style
Millet employs a restrained palette of earth tones and muted whites, characteristic of French Classical Baroque painting. The oil medium allows for smooth transitions between light and shadow, creating a gentle illumination that highlights the figures against the natural backdrop. The brushwork is refined, rendering the drapery and foliage with a calm, almost sculptural clarity.
History & Provenance
Since its completion in the late 17th century, the painting has remained within European collections, eventually entering the holdings of Denmark’s national gallery, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Its attribution to Millet aligns with his known oeuvre of religious and landscape subjects, confirming its place within the broader narrative of Baroque art in Northern Europe.
Artist & collection
Artist
Francisque Millet (27 April 1642, in Antwerp – 3 June 1679, in Paris), also known as Jean-François Milée or Millet I, was a Flemish-French landscape painter of the Baroque era.
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