This painting is based on Lorenzo Bartolini's statue 'The Campbell Sisters Dancing the Waltz' ('"Gruppo delle sorelle Campbell in atto di ballare il Valzer"). Looking at the plaster model used for the sculpture I thought they were walking, and made my background accordingly; only later when researching the sculpture did I find out they are in fact dancing! Oops. Sotheby's has a nice write up on the history of the statue here.
Placing religious moments and Bible scenes in the Tuscan countryside was a strong tradition during the Italian Renaissance, so I thought I would give it a try. I've been trying to find a Greek myth to attribute this moment to but haven't found one yet (most Greek myths, like Bible stories, took place in the Tuscan countryside, according to Italians in the 1500s).
