[4] A sculpture in Rodney Gardens, known as "Millais Viewpoint", recreates the view through two lower corners of a picture frame, made of stone.

[5] The painting has typically been interpreted as a representation of the transience of youth and beauty, a common theme in Millais's art.

Malcolm Warner argues that Millais was influenced by the poetry of Tennyson, at whose house he had once helped to rake together autumn leaves.

[6] Warner suggests that lines from Tennyson's song "Tears, Idle Tears" in The Princess (1847) may have influenced him: The apple held by the youngest girl at the right may allude to the loss of childhood innocence implied by reference to original sin and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

[8] After a positive review from F.G. Stephens, Millais wrote to him that he had "intended the picture to awaken by its solemnity the deepest religious reflection.