In a shaft of light, surrounded by dramatic shadow and numerous sheep, a woman on horseback in a white bonnet and red skirt carries a baby and a basket, a black dog at right. Behind her two men follow, one mounted, one on foot, on a dirt path surrounded by trees.

The Road to Market

1858/59

Constant Troyon (French, 1810–1865)

France

Two men—one on horseback, the other on foot—follow a woman carrying her child on a donkey. Together they lead a herd of sheep to a local market, aided by the dog standing watch to the right. The group emerges from the misty atmosphere of the early morning, the haze yellowed by the dusty path. Constant Troyon was drawn to images of animals more than most of his Barbizon School peers, who included Camille Corot and Jean-François Millet. Later in his career Troyon was celebrated as an animalier, a painter of animals.

Oil on canvas

Painting and Sculpture of Europe