jim henson

Today's Art and Beauty Tuesday features a French painter, born in 1848, Jules Bastien-Lepage.  This painting, Le Mendiant translates as The Beggar and was painted in 1881.

In it, we see the old man, although, perhaps he is not as old as he looks, leaving the young girl in his care at home while he goes to beg for food.  His clothes are drab and ill-fitting.  His shoes look like they have been  repaired with cloth wrapped around them, and look too big for his feet.

The paint around the door is peeling and the potted plant to the left, is alive, although it has probably seen better days.  Perhaps it is a metaphor for the man and his family.

The little girl looks wistfully at him as if she is wishing he did not have to go beg for their supper.