She kneels and gathers the stalks the reapers left behind.
Bible in art · Ruth
Ruth Gleans in the Field of Boaz
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
Doré drew the gleaning scene for the Tours Bible of 1866. He crowded the page with people — reapers, servants, riders — and placed the quiet figure of Ruth right at the front, where the light is strongest.
Ruth kneels in the stubble, picking up stalks, a bundle in her arm. Behind her a bearded man in a striped cloak — Boaz — turns to point her out, while reapers carry sheaves past. Above them, against a hazy sky, riders on camels come through the field.
From the text
- Ruth “gleaned after the harvesters” in the field of Boaz (Ruth 2:3)
- Boaz asked, “Whose young woman is this?” (Ruth 2:5)
- “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.” (Ruth 2:7)
The artist’s own
- A caravan of camel riders crossing the field — the text says only that Boaz came from Bethlehem
- Ruth in a white headcloth and a plain working dress
- Tall grain and loose stalks drawn stem by stem
Details
Ruth
Boaz
A bearded man in a striped cloak points toward her.
A reaper
A young man carries sheaves on his shoulder and looks back.
Camel riders
Riders on camels come through the field in the haze.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 72 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.