Barbizon School, group of French painters, who from about 1830 to 1870 lived in or near the town of Barbizon, at the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau in France. There they painted the animals, landscapes, and people of the region. The group was distinguished by painting outdoors instead of in studios, as had generally been the practice before then. The work of the Barbizon painters had a wider scope of subject matter, greater realism, and fresher color than that of the French painters of the time, who followed the traditions of historical scenes and idealized style favored by the conservative French Academy. The Barbizon painters were the precursors of impressionism in their informality and insistence on naturalness. Members of the Barbizon group included Théodore Rousseau, its nominal leader; Jean François Millet; Jules Dupré; Charles-François Daubigny; and Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Peña.