This picture
was completed in 1859, towards the end of the artists initial Pre-Raphaelite
phase. Millais worked
intermittently on it for almost four years. He experienced severe
difficulties with the picture, & it was badly received by the
critics, who disliked his broader looser technique. Many of the
criticisms, including the ugliness of the girls, & the supposed
coarseness of the apple blossoms are difficult to understand today.
The problems with distance & perspective are not. The underlying
message of the picture concerns the transience of youth & life,
with the apple blossoms representing the young women, & the
scythe at the lower right of the canvass Father Time.
The picture was sold initially for £1000.00.
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