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Figure of Autumn from the Four Seasons
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The modern notion of childhood as a time of innocence and simplicity emerged during the second half of the eighteenth century. This understanding of adolescence led to numerous depictions of children as personifications of the four seasons. Here autumn is portrayed as a young girl playfully jostling her overskirt as she balances a basket of fruit against her hip. The grapes, plums, and apples filling her basket allude to a plentiful fall harvest.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFigure of Autumn from the Four Seasons, c. 1775. Bristol Porcelain Factory (British, 1770–81). Hard-paste porcelain; overall: 28.4 x 16.2 x 13.7 cm (11 3/16 x 6 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness, 1917.611.1
