A Burial at Ornans (Un enterrement a Ornans), 1849, Gustave Courbet, Musee D'Orsay, Paris, France

Gustave Courbet paints the death of his uncle in this enormous 10'x22' painting.  Courbet recognized the significance of this painting towards to realist movement, saying "The Burial at Ornans was in reality the burial of Romanticism."  Typical with the realist movement, the individuals are depicted as accurately as possible, each with a unique face and outfit.  Also, the soil and landscape are depicted as accurately as possible.  The realist movement also represented the common people; most prior paintings depicted nature or the wealthy (Italian Renaissance).  In this painting, Courbet focuses on the death of a common man, an event that would most likely go unnoticed except for his close friends and relatives nearby.