Picasso liked to measure himself against the Old Masters, as well as celebrate them. This subject, one of the best known from the Vollard Suite, is created after Rembrandt famous Jupiter and Antiope from 1659. Rembrandt was well known as a master printmaker, and references to the Dutch master abound in the Vollard Suite, which was Picasso's first large scale forray into printmaking.



The motif of one figure watching another figure sleeping recurs in Picasso's art throughout his career. Variations include scenes with two women, a man and a woman, and a mythical creature with a woman. The female figures were often inspired by the women in his life at the time. One explanation for the persistence of this theme is the fact that Picasso worked at night and had ample opportunity to observe his lovers sleeping.