In this sensitively composed and highly symbolic painting, Tagore shows a young girl crossing a small bridge whilst clutching a Mandarin duck. In Japan, Mandarin ducks signify eternal love and devotion, here the colours of the bird are in harmony with the figure’s jewellery and hair ornamentation. On the screen behind her a magpie perches on a rock, a Japanese symbol of good fortune. Below her feet, a lotus emerges from the water with the flower pointing to the figure. In India, the lotus represents beauty, purity and eternity. These visual devices are used here to delicately bestow qualities to the figure, only apparent once the painting is ‘read’. Folds in the drapery, highlighted in delicate flashes of white paint, reminiscent of the chiaroscuro technique used by Renaissance painters, lends the figure a feeling of lightness and movement. Tagore’s signature is stamped and painted – a technique commonly used in Japanese painting. The combination of Japanese and Indian symbology marries well in this painting, displaying Tagore’s technical skill and ability to create an emotionally charged yet sensitive atmosphere in his paintings.