Het Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch: figure studies of working peasants in the field symbolized for Vincent the unity of man with nature. He painted this peasant woman bent over heavily to emphasize the dynamics of digging: depicting the action for the sake of the action he considered essential and modern. This work was to be part of a series on country life. How a working peasant figure would function in a larger composition is shown by a canvas from Van Gogh's (ultimately not executed) dining room decoration for Hermans' house in Eindhoven.
