Giorgione once found himself embroiled in a conversation with a group of sculptors proclaiming the superiority of their art to his own. Giorgione retorted that a painting could show all that was necessary, without obliging a viewer to walk around the object.

When he offered to show, in a single frame, the front, rear, and sides of a figure, the sculptors appeared skeptical. Giorgione, however, fulfilled his promise, depicting a nude with her back to the viewer, a pool of water at her feet (to reflect her front), a reflective mirror on one side, and a burnished corselet on the other.