In Jean-François Millet’s drawing, a haystack towers over a woman field worker gazing down at more hay before her. Meanwhile, François-Nicolas Auguste Feyen-Perrin depicted a woman sifting through valuable grain as wheat husks (or chaff) cascade from her basket. Seen from behind, the woman in Jules Bastien-Lepage’s print returns home after a day of labor. Standing amidst signs of plenty—hay piled high, endless fields, streaming chaff—these women seem exhausted, with downward gazes and hands on hips. This contrast foregrounds the physical labor that agriculture demands. In 19th-century France, women contributed significantly to the economic stability of rural households, even while they were denied equal legal rights.