Bacchus, the god of wine, is the figure traditionally associated with Autumn. Accompanied here by a satyr with a wineskin, he leans on a barrel and raises a goblet of wine in a pose inspired by the classical marble statue of the Resting Satyr -then in La Granja palace and now in the Prado- after an original by Praxiteles. In the background several companions carry a drunken Silenus.
The series devoted to the Four Seasons was possibly commissioned from Maella by Charles IV to decorate the Platinum Room in the Casa del Labrador in Aranjuez, although in the end the Four Seasons executed by the French painter Anne-Louis Girodet were hung there. Maella chose the figure of the goddess Flora, accompanied by a cherub, for his allegory of Spring.
Inside a house set in a snow-covered, nocturnal landscape, a peasant and his wife warm themselves by the fire next to a table laid with supper. The scene may allude to the myth of Hades and Persephone that is connected with this season, during which Persephone lives in the Underworld with Hades, her abductor, refusing the food he offers her to keep her in his realm.
This canvas, which retains its original frame, was painted around 1789 as a pair to a portrait of Charles IV to mark the couple`s ascent to the throne, referred to by the crown, sceptre and ermine mantle. Maella later added the sash of the Order of María Luisa, founded by the Queen in 1792, and simplified the hair ornament to take the form of a jewel with attached feather.