It is inspired at least in part by a sculpture by François Girardon, The Bath of the Nymphs (1672), a low lead relief realized for a fountain park of Versailles.

[citation needed] It also reflects the influence of the works of Ingres, and particularly the frescoes of Raphael, whose style he had absorbed during his trip to Italy in 1881-82.

Additionally, Renoir greatly admired and was deeply influenced by the decorative Rococo style of the French painter François Boucher.

The painting was exhibited under the title, Les grandes baigneuses; Essai de peinture décorative, indicating his ornamental conception of the work's style.

[3] Renoir also uses lines to define the features of these two nudes, capturing fine details such as the ears, hair, and lips, giving these bathers a lifelike, tactile quality.

[3] In contrast, the style of this painting, at least in its left half, has been described as "anti-Impressionist," as Renoir utilized a very different technique, carefully tracing the two large bathers onto the canvas from exact drawings of the figures.

The smaller bathers in the right background and the surrounding landscape were painted directly onto the canvas, with small, loose brush strokes.

The models for the three bathers included two of his favorites: Aline Charigot, the seated blonde woman, whom Renoir married in 1890, and Suzanne Valadon, herself a painter and the mother of Maurice Utrillo.

In particular, many critics strongly condemned Renoir’s combination of Rococo and Impressionist styles, indicating that the painting lacked aesthetic harmony.