A seminal work of the Realist movement, this painting depicts three peasant women performing the arduous task of gleaning—collecting leftover stalks of wheat after the harvest. Millet emphasizes the physical labor and quiet dignity of the working class by using a low perspective and large, sculptural forms. The composition highlights the stark social contrast of the time, placing the impoverished women in the foreground while the abundant harvest of the wealthy landowners looms in the hazy distance.