Oil on canvas, approximately 34 x 46 inches. Guildhall Art Gallery, London.

In Act IV, Scene iv, Autolycus, who lives by selling notions, singing ballads, and occasionally stealing, enters with a song to hawk his wares: "Come buy of me, come; come buy, come buy, / Buy, lads, or else your lasses cry. / Come buy."

Egg had a talent for a theatrical style in his pictures and here he captures Autolycus in full voice as Perdita and Florizel on the left look on and Dorcas and her friend model a feather they perhaps will buy. On the right are Mopsa and her suitor, the Clown; he examines his pocket, discovering that it has been picked by Autolycus in the previous scene. His face aptly expresses his puzzlement and dismay as he finds he has no money for a present for Mopsa. Egg's Scene from "The Winter's Tale, first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1845, is typical of his ability to capture movement and to render the emotions of a scene. His feeling for the dramatic moment perhaps arose from his love of the theater and his own enthusiasm for amateur performances in which he acted.