Young Couple

The two sit on a low bench, both barefoot. The girl holds a yellow butterfly on her fingertips and keeps her eyes on it; the young man rests an elbow on her shoulder and looks the same way. Her dress is blue, frilled at the neckline and printed with small flowers along the hem, a lilac shawl dropped across her lap. He wears a checked shirt and red breeches to the knee. The base is painted with grass and field flowers, and the whole scene rests on one gesture: the fingertips holding the butterfly.