Whether blacksmith of hell or to the gods, athlete or man of sorrow, hero of progress or loafer, the motif of the worker in the arts has been open to almost any historical interpretation. The rise of the last symbol of social and political mobilization began after 1848, peaked in 1917, and ended after 1950. Strangely, it was the painters who discovered and made use of the motif rather than the intellectuals. Christoph Schmidt follows the historic ups and downs of this motif from France to Russia. Pictures by Courbet, Menzel, Kustodiev, the constructivists and social realists take center stage. The correspondence between painting and photography is also brought to light.