This painting, while highly spiritual and very beautiful, was a disappointment to the Victorian public. They desired paintings that told a story, and this one didn't really have one. Millais commented, "Is there any sensation more delicious than that awakened by the odour of burning leaves? To me nothing brings back sweeter memories of the days that are gone; it is the incense offered by departing summer to the sky, and it brings on a happy conviction that Time puts a peaceful seal on all that has gone...I have always felt insulted when people have regarded the picture as a simple little rustic episode chosen for effect and color, as I intended the picture to arouse by its solemnity the deepest religious reflection." (Ash plate 18).
This painting, while highly spiritual and very beautiful, was a disappointment to the Victorian public. They desired paintings that told a story, and this one didn't really have one. Millais commented, "Is there any sensation more delicious than that awakened by the odour of burning leaves? To me nothing brings back sweeter memories of the days that are gone; it is the incense offered by departing summer to the sky, and it brings on a happy conviction that Time puts a peaceful seal on all that has gone...I have always felt insulted when people have regarded the picture as a simple little rustic episode chosen for effect and color, as I intended the picture to arouse by its solemnity the deepest religious reflection." (Ash plate 18).