With its airy atmosphere, delicate colors and balanced composition, this autumn depiction is one of the major works of Conrad Meyer's landscape painting. The large format alone testifies to the demands the artist placed on himself and this work. The embedding of the seasonal scene in a contemporary, topographical setting – Lake Zurich and the city beyond – makes it one of the earliest paintings in which the Swiss landscape is chosen as the main subject.

A sower can be seen in the area of what is now the Riesbach district of Zurich. The Uetliberg is depicted in the background on the left, while the lake and the city of Zurich can be seen in the center of the picture. The tower of St. Peter's is clearly visible and to the left of it, somewhat smaller, are the two Romanesque towers of the Fraumünster (the south tower was demolished in 1728). On the other side of the Limmat we see the Grossmünster with its late medieval needle helmets.

Seasons were a popular theme in the Baroque period, particularly in Flemish and Dutch art, which was an important inspiration for Conrad Meyer, not least in the field of landscape painting. The figures in the foreground, who are engaged in characteristic agricultural activities, also fit in with this.

The theme of the seasons also appeared in Conrad Meyer's prints at the end of the 1640s. After his first successful publication of a New Year's sheet in 1645, the next four years saw the publication of one depiction of each season, each showing the city of Zurich from all four points of the compass in the background. The autumn published in 1648 is closely related to our painting, and it can be assumed that this etching was the basis for the realization in oil. Perhaps one of the recipients of the New Year's leaflet was so taken with the subject that he ordered a large-format edition in color from the artist.