[2] Robert and Sonia Delaunay where at the resort of San Sebastián, in Spain, when the First World War overtook them by surprise.

They decided to move to Portugal, settling in the northern village of Vila do Conde, near Porto, where they lived from June 1915 to March 1916.

They were influence by that kind of lightning and by scenes of popular life, which they tried to capture in a series of works on the theme of village markets.

Although Robert Delaunay had already experimented with abstract painting before, in 1912–1913, unlike other artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, he did not see it as an end in itself but as part of his orphic style.

Delaunay reached a color saturation in this painting with the usage of an oil and wax mixture, which he would never use again after leaving Portugal.