Angelus by Jean Francois Millet

SOURCE:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Angelus_(painting)

KEYWORDS:  Death, Incarnation, Life, Mourning, Prayer

Jean Francois Millet said: "The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed"

At first, the painting was interpreted as a political statement, with Millet viewed as a socialist in solidarity with the workers. While the painting expresses a profound sense of religious devotion, and became one of the most widely reproduced religious paintings of the 19th century, with prints displayed by thousands of devout householders across France, Millet painted it from a sense of nostalgia rather than from any strong religious feeling. 

Salvador Dalí saw a print of this painting in his school and insisted that this was a funeral scene, not a prayer ritual and that the couple were portrayed praying and mourning over their dead infant. Although this was an unpopular view, at his insistence the Louvre X-rayed the painting, showing a small painted-over geometric shape strikingly similar to a coffin by the basket.

The Angelus is a Roman Catholic prayer commemorating the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  It comes from the angel's words to Mary from the gospel of Luke.  It is recited three times a day.