Woman Carding Wool

This etching, considered to be one of Jean-François Millet's finest, empathetically depicts a peasant working at the lowest level of the wool business. She fills most of the picture, intent upon the rhythmic stroking of the toothed paddles that comb and clean wool fibers before they are spun. Surrounding her are objects of her trade: baskets heaped with both raw and finished wool, a spinning wheel, and a scale for weighing. In her posture and facial expression, we sense a weariness and resignation.