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The present plaster was conceived as part of De Bay's Les trois parques (The Three Fates). A complete plaster version was exhibited at the Salon of 1827 and the Exposition Universelle of 1855 and acquired by the Musée d’Angers in 1866. De Bay has captured the gripping moment when Atropos prepares to cut the thread of a mortal's time with her presaging shears.
The group includes Atropos alongside her two younger sisters: Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured its length. The frieze on the pedestal of the group shows the Dance of Hours, and was created by De Bay's son, suggesting that the present base may also have been created by the apprentice.
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