Two young girls in white dresses stand among tall lilies and pink roses, each absorbed in lighting a paper lantern as dusk settles over a garden. The girl on the left bows her head, intent on her task, her face softly illuminated by the warm glow of the lantern she holds close to her chest. Opposite her, another girl, slightly smaller, steadies a lantern in both hands, her features lit by the same gentle light, while her gaze is fixed on the flame.

Around them, the garden is dense with white lilies arching overhead and clusters of roses and carnations at their feet, the flowers rendered with loose, textured brushstrokes that capture the lushness of the scene. The grass beneath the girls is painted in cool blue and green tones, with yellow and pink blossoms scattered throughout, creating a carpet of color that contrasts with the glowing lanterns. Several paper lanterns, some already lit and others still pale, hang among the flowers and foliage, their surfaces painted with swirling strokes that suggest the flicker of candlelight within.

The background is a deep, shadowy green, crowded with leaves and stems, and the composition is almost square, with no visible horizon, so that the viewer’s attention remains on the intimate ritual at the center. The girls’ dresses catch the last cool light of day, their ruffled hems and sleeves picked out in subtle purples and blues, while their hair glows softly in the lantern light. The brushwork is lively and varied, with sweeping lines for the lilies’ petals and more delicate touches for the children’s faces and hands, giving the painting a sense of immediacy and atmosphere. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is a work by John Singer Sargent, painted in the 1880s.