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This group is among the best-known sculptures by Schadow. After Prussian Crown Prince Frederick William and his younger brother Ludwig had married the princesse of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in quick succession in December 1793, Schadow was commissioned to produce portrait busts of the sisters. During the work, Schadow must have opted for a full-length double portrait of the two women instead. A lifesize plaster version was already exhibited in 1795, and Schadow intended to do a marble version. After long negotiations an agreement was finally concluded, though the ultimate location was left open. The marble group was exhibited in 1797, but Frederick William II died, and his son Frederick William III saw no reason to honour his father's obligations to Schadow. Thus the group initially ended up in Schadow's workshop, until eventually it was installed in a lesser room of the royal palace in Berlin, hidden from public view.
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