Tom Holland hosts this episode with art critic Laura Cumming, exploring four paintings that reflect particular historical periods. This final episode examines The Angelus by Jean-François Millet, painted in 1859.

The discussion centers on how this small painting of two peasants praying became both the most famous devotional image in French art and a source of political controversy. Set in mid-19th century France, the work embodies tensions between Catholic tradition and secular republicanism that emerged after the French Revolution.

Currently on display in London after years at the Musée d'Orsay, the painting depicts potato diggers pausing for evening prayer as church bells ring across the landscape, capturing a moment that represents competing visions of French identity.

The Visual Elements of Rural Catholic Devotion

The painting shows two figures 'standing stock still, heads bent in prayer, their bodies sort of haloed, backlit by golden evening rays across an immense field' - Laura

The scene captures potato diggers with 'unearthed potatoes, not very clear, around their clogged feet' and a distant 'tin tack of blue spire beneath high pink clouds'

Millet's technique creates 'meditative slowness' with softly painted figures, showing details like 'the imprint of the hat in his hair' and light on 'the woman's apron'

The Angelus Prayer and Pre-Industrial Time

The Angelus prayer occurs 'three times a day and marks the span of the day: sunset, noon, and dusk' in pre-industrial communities without 'watches and clocks'

The prayer centers on 'Gabriel bringing the news that Mary is to bear Christ' with 'three introductions, and then you go into the Hail Mary'

The painting captures the auditory experience: 'what you see is what you are hearing' as bells ring 'from so far away, yet it stops them in their tracks'

Political Controversy in Post-Revolutionary France

The painting emerged 'half a century and more after the French Revolution' which 'was very anti-clerical', making church-state relations a 'massively live political issue'

The work represents 'a certain idea of France that is quite a controversial idea by the mid-19th century', embodying tensions between Catholic and secular visions

Despite generating 'great swelling political controversy which surrounded it and certainly brought it huge fame', the painting's actual presence conveys quiet devotion rather than political statement