This double Nordic and Italian influence took shape at the 1863 Salon with the diptych of The Departure and Return of the Prodigal Son (Paris, musée du Petit Palais) . If the Return of the Prodigal Son has its source in the Flemish masters and the Nordic architect, the Departure of the Prodigal Son evokes the artist's trip to Italy and the strong influence of Venetian artists on Tissot. Our painting is the preparatory sketch for this work. Always meticulous in his work, Tissot first executed a drawn study of the finished composition (New York, The Metropolitan Museum, inv. 1970.114.2) before making our painted sketch. Subsequently, the artist made several detail drawings of the main figures in the composition. If the position of the figure of the son is found from the first draft, we note many differences between our sketch and the completed painting. Thus, in the drawing and in the sketch, the prodigal son kisses his father's hand, whereas in the painting in the Petit Palais, Tissot adds the figures of the mother - to whom the son kisses the hand - and of the young sister. Furthermore, there are many differences in the group on the right of the men in the boat and the one on the left of the women being welcomed on the pontoon.

On the back of our panel, the artist has painted a somewhat confusing scene of an embracing couple in a Renaissance garden with bowers and a fountain. This couple appears to be disturbed and looks to the left. It is possible that the main scene refers to the story of Faust and Marguerite, and in particular to the scene in which these two characters are walking through a garden. Between 1860 and 1861, Tissot treated the theme of Faust eight times and our sketch is probably a first thought for another painting that was never realized.