The commission for The Gates of Hell allowed Rodin the opportunity to experiment extensively with figure compositions, singly and in groups, in which he could work on a smaller scale than his earlier sculptures, and further refine his intensity of expression. A common theme among these sculptures is human love, expressed not in the tired allegorical conventions of the period, but in more novel, passionate and purely human terms.

As in many of his great figure groupings, Rodin developed the characters in L'éternel Printemps from earlier material. The figure of the woman is derived from Torso of Adele, which appears on the top left corner of the tympanum of The Gates of Hell. The lovers were originally known as Zéphyr et la Terre and were exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1898 as Cupidon et Psyché (there are small Cupid's wings on the back of the man).

The overhanging of the leg of the male figure and the uneasy counterpoint of the lovers in this first state of L'éternel Printemps reflect Rodin's innovative treatment of the figure seen throughout The Gates of Hell. The second, better known version, which Barbediene created in large editions after 1898 to meet the great public demand for this subject, is far more conventional and deliberately beautiful in its composition. However, it is less direct and powerful in its expression of human love.

The raised stamp 'M' inside this sculpture is a designation applied by the Alexis Rudier Foundry to casts made for the Musée Rodin in those cases where they were concerned about unauthorized copies. See also lot 149.