Spring
1793-1794
Francis Wheatley captures a sweet, rustic moment in this 1790s masterpiece, showing a young boy in a tree offering a bird's nest to two girls below. The girl in the blue dress leans in with a mix of curiosity and caution, while her friend in the yellow bonnet reaches out eagerly. It's a classic example of late 18th-century British sentimentality, where nature and childhood innocence were all the rage. Wheatley was famous for these rural scenes that made city folks nostalgic for a simpler, idyllic life.