His outstretched hand has just let the seed go.
Bible in art · Matthew
The Sower (Le semeur)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
For the parables Tissot made single figures, as if Jesus’ listeners were seeing the people of his stories. The sower strides barefoot down a ploughed brown field at sunset, his white headcloth blowing back.
With one arm he flings the seed out of the fold of his robe; the grain flies off in a dark cloud against the orange sky, and dry thistles stand at the edge of the field.
From the text
- “A farmer went out to sow his seed” (Matthew 13:3)
- Seed falls on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns and on good soil (Matthew 13:4–8)
The artist’s own
- Seed carried in a fold of the robe
- A sunset sky over the field
Details
The throw
Flying seed
The grain scatters like a swarm across the sky.
The seed bag
He holds the fold of his robe full of seed.
Thorns
Dry thistles at the edge of the field.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.119) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".