Florizel and Perdita

Leslie's Florizel and Perdita depicts the romantic pair from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale — the prince who falls in love with the supposed shepherdess at the sheep-shearing festival before her royal identity is revealed. The pastoral romance of Florizel and Perdita, set in the idealized Bohemia of the play's fourth act, was among the most painted subjects from Shakespeare's romances, its combination of elegant young love with rural festivity appealing to Victorian taste for both literary culture and naturalistic genre painting. Leslie's treatment combined careful attention to period costume with the psychological warmth of his best romantic subjects.

The pastoral setting is painted with warm, golden tones suggesting an Arcadian idyll. The lovers' expressions convey the sincerity of their feelings, and Leslie's handling of the rural costumes creates a convincing theatrical pastoral.