In this painting the boy sits in a minutely detailed sunlit landscape undertaking an everyday task. The scene typifies the ‘truth to nature’ in Pre-Raphaelite art as advocated by John Ruskin, whose writings deeply impressed
Brett. The landscape shows Box Hill near Dorking, Surrey; the stones are flints, and the plants, all botanically identifiable, tell us that Brett was painting in August or September. Plants, trees, rock formations and
the effect of light on both the foreground and the distant panorama, are minutely described with scientific accuracy. Breaking stones for use in mending roads was a lowly, unskilled job often given to ‘paupers’. Brett
may have had a symbolic meaning in mind: the bullfinch is a traditional symbol of the soul, and the withered tree with its single leafy branch may be intended to represent the triumph of the boy’s spirit over his menial
physical labour.
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This painting shows a young boy breaking stones for road mending. This was an unskilled job often given to paupers. The landscape is Box Hill near Dorking, Surrey. The painting seems to reflect the critic John Ruskin's
(1819-1900) ideal of truth to nature as well as the artist’s interest in geology. Plants, trees and rock formations are painted with scientific accuracy. The stones are flints. The plants, all botanically identifiable,
tell us that Brett was working in August or September. Brett may have had a symbolic meaning in mind for this painting: the bullfinch, included on the tree branch, traditionally symbolises the soul.
The painting was it exhibited at the Liverpool Academy in 1856. When it was later exhibited at London's Royal Academy, in 1858, it was admired for its accurate detail and the delicacy of its finish. Ruskin commented:
"This after Lewis's is simply the most perfect piece of painting with respect to touch, in the Academy this year; in some points of precision it goes beyond anything the Pre-Raphaelites have done yet. I know
of no such thistledown, no such chalk hills and elm trees, no such natural pieces of far away cloud in any of their works."
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