Both depict four odalisques as they relax in a palm house (which was destroyed by fire in 1880) at the royal retreat of Pfaueninsel, though the angles of view and compositions are different.

[1] At the suggestion of the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, King Frederick William III of Prussia purchased the Foulchiron Palm Collection.

[7] The odalisques, much like the palm trees and the Indian architecture, are treated as exotic objects and symbolize the power and wealth of European royalty and aristocrats.

[6][8] The large tree in the foreground highlights the size of the Palm House by framing the view and directing the viewer to the interior of the building.

[6] Frederick William most likely gifted the Chicago painting to his daughter, Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.