The great Millet indignantly protests ['Le Figaro' has just published two letters of Millet] against the Commune [and the communards] , whom he characterizes as barbarians and vandals; he concludes with a dig at good Courbet, who, as I see it, can only be aggrandized by this attempt at belittlement. Because of his painting 'The Man with the Hoe', the socialists thought Millet was on their side.. .Not at all. More and more indignant disavowals from the great painter! What do you think of that? I was not much surprised. He was just a bit too biblical.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The great Millet indignantly protests ['Le Figaro' has just published two letters of Millet] against the Commune [and the communards] , whom he characterizes as barbarians and vandals; he concludes with a dig at good Courbet, who, as I see it, can only be aggrandized by this attempt at belittlement. Because of his painting 'The Man with the Hoe', the socialists thought Millet was on their side.. .Not at all. More and more indignant disavowals from the great painter! What do you think of that? I was not much surprised. He was just a bit too biblical." in the context of "Quote of Camille Pissarro, in a letter, Eragny, 25 February 1887, to his son Lucien; in Camille Pissarro - Letters to His Son Lucien ed. John Rewald, with assistance of Lucien Pissarro; from the unpublished French letters; transl. Lionel Abel; Pantheon Books Inc. New York, second edition, 1943, p. 105" to mean that wisdom is timeless.