life size painting of two young girls in a garden lighting chinese paper lanterns in the twilight. the two girls are polly and dolly barnard, daughters of a friend, chosen because they had the exact hair colour sargent was seeking. dolly, aged eleven, is on the left ; polly, aged seven, is on the right. both girls wear white summer dresses with frilly necks, like cotton nighties, which cover them completely from their necks down to below the knee. the dresses are very full and billowy, and have full length puffy sleeves. the white fabric picks up and reflects the orange coloured light of the paper lanterns that surround them, suspended from a horizontal line which is strung and wound between tall lily stems. the two girls stand almost knee deep in the carnations which grow upwards and diagonally from the ground, wearing black boots. they have light brown hair cut short above their necks. dolly, in the centre of the canvas, is positioned with her back slightly turned towards us so we see her face in profile. the sisters are surrounded by flowers ; deep burgundy and cream carnations on blue - green stems in the lower quarter of the composition, pink and white roses to either side of them and tall creamy white lilies all around and above them. there are eight more globe and tube shaped paper lanterns hanging from the line strung between the branches and stems around the girls each one glowing orangey pink and looking remarkable against the darker colour of the leaves and stems which surround them.