Despite the efforts of Andre Breton and others to persuade de Chirico not to abandon surrealism in favor of neo-classicism in 1925 the painter embarked on a series of works heavily influenced by Sir James George Frazer's travel account of classical Greece, published in French in 1923 as Sur les Traces de Pansanias. In all likelihood he was also influenced in this direction by Picasso, whom he held in high regard, and who had been painting classical-realistic works since 1917. By incorporating the new architectural imagery with the seated faceless mannequins, who were omnipresent in the early works, this work represents a bridge between the mystical early works and the mythological paintings that were to preoccupy de Chirico for the rest of his life.