This large-scale preparatory drawing relates to two finished paintings: the female figure’s face and costume relate to Vesta (1858/01D), one of four decorative panels Bouguereau painted between 1857 and 1858 for the archivolts in the Salon des Saisons in the mansion of Parisian banker, Parliamentarian, and railroad industrialist Emile Pereire at 35 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore (now the British Embassy), while her pose and the two babies she holds relate to Charity (1859/02), a composition Bouguereau also realized as a reduction (1859/02A).

Images from left to right: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Vesta, 1858. Present whereabouts unknown. William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Charity, 1859. Oil on canvas, 54 7/8 by 44 1/4 in. (139.38 by 112.4 cm). University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1895.96 .