In Burne-Jones’s version of the story he deals with the figure of Pilgrim, guided by Love through trials encountered on the journey, to the quest’s achievement, symbolised by a rose garden in which the pilgrim is about to pluck the rose. Here the artist gives play to his delight in beautiful maidens and allows the pilgrim a relatively easy passage to the conclusion. This is in sharp contrast to a series of illustrations to “The Earthly Paradise” of 30 years before, which tells the story of Cupid and Psych; there Burne-Jones made Psyche complete a punishing journey before achieving entry to the realm of the gods (Fig. 82).