Millet was a thoughtful artist, to whom the spirit of things was at least as important as their visual aspect. His deep and sincere sympathy with the life of the peasant, to whose class he himself belonged, determined to a large extent his choice of subject. But Millet never descended to anecdotal trivialities; he avoided the pale sentimentality of such a painter as Jules Breton. His thought, like his technique, was virile, positive, honest. Millet was far above any trickery, either of thought or of execution.
The very intensity of his intellectual interests led Millet to evolve a personal style that is distinguished by its simplicity and directness. As an artist, Millet is more allied to Durer than to Rubens. Color plays but a small part in his pictures. Significant, expressive line is the first essential of his art, and with this simple means he secures a surprising effect of plastic form. When color is added to outline, he is primarily interested in establishing accurately the values of the different planes. Both in his use of line and of mass, it is Millet's invariable practice to simplify, omitting everything that is not essential to his purpose.
NEAR EASTERN ART
Plate, with Floral Design Asia Minor, XVI Century
The art of the Nearer Orient is the product of many races. The phrase covers in general the art of India, Persia, Syria, Mohammedan Egypt, Turkey, and even, in certain aspects, the art of Spain, Portugal and southern Italy. Although the development of this art was by no means uniform or along the same lines, the products are all related in style, which is unmistakable and distinct from other types of design. The most typical manifestation of this style would appear to have originated in Egypt about the time of the Mohammedan conquest in 638 A. D., and almost simultaneously in Syria and northern Persia. Since the Koran forbade the representation of any living creature, Mohammedan artists developed the so-called arabesque style, based on geometric and floral motives. This limitation, however, was not observed by the Persians, who introduced human and animal life into their designs with beautiful results.
Two Fragments of Bowls, Persian, Rhages, XIII Century. Left: Polychrome Decoration, Right: Lustred Decoration
The earliest lustred ware of Persia is that found in the ruins of the ancient city of Rhages. This prosperous city was destroyed in 1221 during the Mongol invasion. It may be assumed that most of the fragments found in the tumuli at Rhages date from the early years of the XIII century. Non-lustred pottery with polychrome decoration was also produced at Rhages during this period.