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Schiele attempted to explain the symbolism of the painting to Carl Reininghaus in the spring of 1912: "It is not a grey sky, but a world in mourning in which the two figures move. They have sprung up here by themselves, an organic extension of the earth. This whole world, together with the two figures, is supposed to represent the transitoriness of everything essential. A single withered rose exhales its white innocence in contrast to the wreaths of flowers on the two heads. The one on the left bows before this solemn world; his flowers should appear cold, merciless.... I see the two figures as resembling a cloud of dust, like the earth, which rises of itself, only to collapse in exhaustion".
The figure on the right is said to represent Gustav Klimt, though there is no substantive evidence to support this identification. The resemblance between the figure on the left and Schiele is more apparent.
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