A couple embracing each other is painted in an interior, which gives the scene a self-contained feel to it. Their figures are painted with bold and expressive color highlights. Their embrace has no sign of sensuality or harmony.

On the contrary, the echo of a future drama can be heard throughout the atmosphere of the painting. It seems that Picasso tried to intensify his impressions from his observations of suffering: during his visits to asylums and hospitals for prostitutes, he painted many scenes. His Parisian impressions in combination with the Spanish tradition allowed him to develop the motif of proud poverty and sublime squalor, through which we can feel the sadness and drama of socially marginalized people. Picasso developed this theme in many of his works created in 1901–1904. This is the so-called “blue” period in his artistic life.