Rodin spent years exploring new ways of representing the human emotions of love and affection experienced at different stages of life. The bodies and gestures of the children here suggest an innocent foreshadowing of the mature couple in the artist’s celebrated sculpture The Kiss of 1882. Both works feature a strong tactile contrast between the rough-hewn lower area and the smooth surfaces of the nude body above. Upwardly spiraling forms, combined with shifting areas of light and shadow, infuse the sculpture with dynamic energy.