This painting originally comprised the left-most portion of a much larger mural featured in the popular and salacious Dream of Venus pavilion, which Dalí created for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Incorporating the artist’s major iconography of the decade, including a melting clock and a burning giraffe, the mural hung in the “dry” portion of the presentation. The adjacent “wet” aquarium featured a burlesque performance that complemented the pavilion’s celebration of classical beauty. The arched passage in this painting was mirrored on the mural’s right side in a panel that remains lost today.