At the time Burne-Jones and his family moved into their house in Rottingdean (see no.72) the rural setting could not have been more idyllic. From the back windows Burne-Jones was able to look up over 'the tender, bowed locks of corn' towards a windmill on the brim of the rolling downland. From 1885 he started to set down simple outline drawings in a 'secret' sketchbook, now in the British Museum. As well as designs for the mosaic scheme installed in the American Episcopal Church in Rome, the sketchbook contains a preparatory study for this watercolour, which he completed at some point during the last decade of his life. Tate Gallery label, September 2004
During Burne-Jones's final years he developed a personal symbolism derived from the bible, Mort d'Arthur and other mystical writings. In them the sun, giver of life, and wheat, symbolic of knowledge and sacrifice, frequently figured.. This watercolour is comparable to many sketches in his Secret Book of Designs (British Museum) and those for The Flower Book.