The Angelus
Millet had originally created this work for an American, Thomas Gold Appleton, who failed to take possession of the piece. Millet later changed the painting to include a steeple in the background and change the name from Prayer for the Potato Crop to The Angelus. The painting changed hands many times, ending with a bidding war between France and America. The painting has also been a source of speculation, due to Salvador Dali’s insistence that the figures are actually praying over their deceased child. Dali was so insistent that the painting was eventually x-rayed, revealing a shape that looked like a small coffin, indicating that Dali may have been right, and that Millet may have originally created the painting with the couple mourning over their small child’s coffin.
