Collins used the character of 'The Fool' as an actor in many of his paintings. For him the Fool represented a state of innocence and spiritual purity. In an essay entitled 'The Vision of the Fool' Collins explained that he saw the qualities of the Fool as essential to creativity and inspiration: 'The saint, the artist, and the poet are all one in the Fool, in him they live, in him the poetic imagination of life lives.' In this painting the Fool and his muse are depicted with their eyes closed in reverie, surrounded by flowers.