The Realism movement emerged in France in the 1840s, led by Gustave Courbet. Realists rejected the dramatic emotionalism of Romanticism and the idealized subjects of the Academy. Instead, they sought to depict everyday life, especially the labor of the working class, with 'unvarnished' truth. Courbet famously stated, 'I cannot paint an angel because I have never seen one.' His massive painting 'A Burial at Ornans' shocked the public because it depicted a common provincial funeral on a scale usually reserved for heroic or religious subjects. By giving dignity to ordinary people and mundane events, Realism laid the groundwork for modern art's focus on the social and political realities of the world. It was a radical shift that challenged the idea that art should only celebrate beauty or the elite.