While Raurich always showed an interest in ponds and pools of water, this painting was made after his time in Italy between 1895 and 1898, where he had painted the Pontine Marshes to the southeast of Rome which other scholarship holders also used as a theme for their works.

This particular picture is a good example of the artist’s liking for the symbolism of ponds in neglected gardens and luxuriant vegetation, treated with thick impasto worked with great finesse.

The work depicts an autumnal landscape in a silent and intimate space as the trees are losing their leaves and the milky, almost wintery light shrouds nature in a melancholic mood. The central motif of the canvas, the stagnant pond, is covered with fallen leaves, while the autumnal undergrowth takes over the surrounding area.