The group shows the two sisters Emma and Julia Campbell, portrayed in old-fashioned garments, embracing and performing the steps of a waltz. The two girls were the youngest daughters of Lady Charlotte Campbell, in turn the daughter of the Duke of Argyll and a famous writer. Lady Charlotte had moved to Florence in 1816. Emma and Julia were still living with their mother at the time the sculpture was created, probably commissioned by Charlotte’s older brother, George William Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll. From a description of the group by Mary Berry, a friend of Lady Charlotte, it can be deduced that the plaster cast was probably in the sculptor’s house in 1821.

The model is nailed for the marble transposition, which was dedicated by Bartolini to John Flaxman, an English artist beloved by the sculptor. The marble work is now preserved in Edinburgh (National Galleries of Scotland).

The group’s composition recalls Antonio Canova’s famous sculpture of the Tre Grazie (Three Graces), in full-length, in the affectionate embrace of the two sisters.