In 1849 Courbet saw two people working by the roadside, using small hammers to break large rocks into gravel. One was an old man and the other was a young boy. Courbet painted a picture of this scene. He explained it to a friend "It is not often that one meets with so complete an expression of poverty and so, right then and there I got the idea for a painting. I told them to come to my studio the next morning."