The Siesta (after Millet)

Vincent van Gogh

Oil on canvas

Musée d'Orsay

Painted between December 1889 and January 1890 during his internment at the asylum of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, The Siesta depicts two peasants reclining in peaceful slumber beside a large haystack during a midday rest, with tools and discarded shoes scattered in the foreground and a broad, sun-drenched landscape extending into the background. The composition is adapted directly from a black-and-white drawing by Jean-François Millet from his series Four Moments in the Day, which Van Gogh translated into oil paint not as a copy but as a chromatic reinterpretation built on contrasting complementary colors — blue-violet set against yellow-orange. Despite the tranquil subject matter, the painting radiates Van Gogh's characteristic intensity through his bold impasto brushwork and vibrant color construction. It is widely considered one of his masterpieces from the Saint-Rémy period and has been part of the permanent collection of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, since 1952.