Autumn Leaves – John Everrett Millais – 1856

In this painting Millais captures the wistful innocence of a group of beautiful young girls gathering Autumnal leaves.  The seasonal choice hints at the transience of life, casting the shadow of death over their youthful innocence and ignorance. The expressions on the girls’ faces are haunting and mesmerising, a perfect example of the Pre-Raphaelite interest in painting in and from nature. Succinctly described in an 1857 review, this painting exudes ‘a feeling of melancholy […] very poetically expressed’.