Poet and autumn

Gilded, faceted Gothic arches rise across the composition, framing glimpses of a miniature blue-and-white townscape with spires and gables. A small portrait of a figure in a red medieval cap looks out from the upper left, beside a rounded tree heavy with pink roses at center. Several birds — a woodpecker, sparrows and a striped songbird — perch among bundles of straw woven into the lower arches.

Rich gold leaf and ochre dominate the surface, textured with straw and raised relief against a flat cobalt-blue ground, punctuated by patches of red, black and cream. The flattened perspective and jewel-like color blocks give the scene a decorative, tapestry-like quality, part icon, part folk ornament, with a hushed, storybook stillness.