# Two Shepherdesses Resting with Two Sheep

- By: Auguste Giraudon's Artist (French)
- Date: late 1870s
- Medium: albumen print from wet collodion negative
- Classification: Photograph
- Dimensions: Image: 11.2 x 17 cm (4 7/16 x 6 11/16 in.); Paper: 11.2 x 17 cm (4 7/16 x 6 11/16 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)
- Culture: France, 19th century
- Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.8)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.8/2010.8_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

During the 1870s, Giraudon commissioned one or more artists—probably a French painter who wished to remain anonymous—to create photographs of peasants. Now called Giraudon’s Artist, this photographer was one of the few in the 1800s specializing in rural figure studies created for use by artists. The images were likely taken near Barbizon, a destination popular with artists who wanted to work from nature. The artistry of these images derives from their skillful use of light, ability to render a subject in the landscape, and a perceptive depiction of human dignity.