Hawkins was born near Stuttgart of English parents (his cousin was George Moore, the novelist) but adopted French nationality in 1895. He studied at Julian's under Bouguereau and Lefebvre, and began to exhibit at the Salon in 1881, later showing at the Salon de la Rose + Croix and the Société nationale des Beaux-Arts. He worked in a variety of styles of which the most characteristic is a precise, Symbolist idiom reflecting his admiration for the Pre-Raphaelites and his friendship with many Symbolist artists and writers. The present picture, in which he adopts a favourite device of two heads in juxtaposition, is a fine example. The dragon in the background may be inspired by similar beasts in Dürer's woodcuts of the Apocalypse.