Nineteenth-century artists often created images of children to evoke innocence and virtue, ideals that were particularly important after the Civil War, when the nation seemed to have lost its innocence. Joel Tanner Hart created this sculpture after seeing a young girl absorbed in collecting morning glories in the folds of her dress. The roses and lilies, even the white marble itself, symbolize the girl’s purity, while the morning glory represents the fleeting nature of childhood.