“We have had some superb effects of fog and some frosts so fairy-like that they surpass all imagination,” wrote Millet to the collector of this pastel. “The forest was marvelously beautiful in this attire, but I am not sure the more modest objects, the bushes and briars, tufts of grass, and little sprays of all kinds were not, in their way, the most beautiful of all.” In this bug’s-eye-view of nature, Millet presents flowers and grass up-close, in intimate proximity, lush and marvelous in their details and color. The cowslip primroses glow, brilliant yellow amid the dense darkness of the forest floor, not even open yet to their full bloom. A snail, antennae glistening, moves along the rough earth, unfazed by the neighboring floral radiance.