Considered an innovator in the field of realistic portraiture, a pupil of Domenico Morelli and friend of De Nittis, whose Parisian salon he was a regular visitor to, Corcos is one of the most appreciated interpreters of the feelings and customs of the Belle époque.

Few people know, however, that the dream vision at the basis of this magnificent mise-en scène is the result of a meticulous, intimate but no less visionary work: drawings with tempera and chalk on cardboard that evoke both the physical and the personality traits of the actors, as well as a range of environments varyingly domestic, foreign, or surreal.