The Golden Fleece

"The Golden Fleece" originally titled "Shearing at Newstead" is a renowned painting from 1894 by Australian artist Tom Roberts. This artwork vividly captures the bustling scene of sheep shearers hard at work in a wooden shearing shed at Newstead North, a sheep station near Inverell in New South Wales. Intriguingly, the same shed also appears in another one of Roberts' paintings, "Shearing Shed, Newstead."

The painting's title was changed to "The Golden Fleece" to evoke the legendary Golden Fleece from Greek mythology, underscoring the significance of the wool industry and the dignity of the shearers. This renaming was part of Roberts' endeavor to idealize Australian pastoral workers and their environment.

Today, "The Golden Fleece" is celebrated as an iconic piece of Australian art and is prominently displayed at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.