Henner painted few large-scale decors, such as Les Naïades, a private commission for the dining room of Mr. and Mrs. Soyer's mansion at 43 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris. The painter knew their son-in-law, Paul Sédille, the architect of the Magasins du Printemps.
Henner, who had already exhibited a Naïade (aquatic nymph in Greek mythology) at the 1875 Salon (Paris, Musée d'Orsay), composed with a certain awkwardness one of his rare multi-figure paintings.
