The composition is based on Chaucer's Romaunt of the Rose, and Burne-Jones treated this subject in various ways, from the Kelmscott Chaucer to a tapestry design. By the spring of 1892 Burne-Jones had recovered from a long and painful illness to resume work. It was then that he completed his oil painting Thee Heart of the Rose which he exhibited at the New Gallery in 1893 together with The Pilgrim at the Gate of Idleness.