Looking at the painting Morning Picture by Edwin Romanzo Elmer (1890), there are several symbols within the painting. Upon first glance, one might see the work as a painting of parents over seeing their daughter while she plays in the front yard of their home. However, upon further analyzing, it is clear that the painting serves as a visual representation of the loss of a child. In the forefront of the image stands a young girl holding onto a sheep, abandoning her doll and hat which lay nearby in the grass. Approaching the girl and her sheep is a kitten that appears to be making eye contact with the sheep. Oftentimes in Victorian artworks or portraits of children, young animals such as kittens and puppies are present–symbolizing the youthfulness and innocence of the child. However, in this painting, rather than interacting or acknowledging the kitten, the gaze of the child looks off into the distance. The kitten also appears to show both curiosity and hesitation as it approaches the sheep and the girl. In contrast to this scene, the parents of the young girl sit in the background, making direct eye contact with the viewer. Both dressed in traditional Victorian mourning clothes, share no emotion as they sit under a tree. The shadow casted by the tree contrasts with the brightness of the sun reflecting on the young girl, creating a sense of darkness and sorrow that hover over the seated parents.

The poem “Mourning Picture”, written by John Seelye gives context and a broader context to the work of Elmer. It connects to figures and symbols within the painting that others might go unnoticed to a viewer under initial glance. Seelye describes that the girl of the painting is the representation of all the young girls who passed away. He references iconography of the Victorian Era that Elmer alludes to within his painting, writing: 

Graveyards are pastures full of little stone lambs 

And tiny tombstones like the low doorways

At the bottom of gardens, fairy-tale entrances 

Into eternity, that emerald wonderworld somewhere Over some rainbow.

Within these lines, Seelye references the death of not only the girl within the painting but also the thousands of children who passed away. During the Victorian era, stone lambs were symbols of childhood death, representing the innocence and purity of the child who passed away. Also within this excerpt, Seelye creates this juxtaposition of childhood and death–using the playful imagery of a fairy garden,  a common scene from childhood imagination. The writing of Seelye frames the portrait of Elmer, giving crucial background knowledge of the artist’s inspiration and life. He describes how the house Edwin Elmer had built by him and his father will now serve as a “cenotaph” or memorial for her in addition to her actual headstone. When synthesizing these two works of arts, I am left wondering how the title shapes the perspective of which the viewer interprets the piece. What if it had been something completely different? Would one still draw connections from the symbols and imagery to form the conclusion that this is a depiction of grief and child loss?