With obsessive attention to detail, Frederic envisions the seasons as four prancing children. Enveloped by flowers and fruits, they absorb the earth's energy (spring), sow seeds (summer), gather a harvest (fall), and fall asleep (winter).
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At an exhibition in Brussels in 1888 these canvasses flanked a fifth, larger picture that depicted Nature as a mother nursing her children. The sensuality and contrived abundance of all five scenes make it clear that they symbolize not just the seasons, but also fertility and the cycle of life.
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