Following surgery for cancer in 1941, Matisse struggled to stand by an easel and instead made cut-outs while confined to his bed or wheelchair. In 1942 the publisher, Elf Tériade, commissioned Matisse to make a book of colour images. Matisse conceived it as a book on the circus although began to incorporate other subjects and motifs. The Codomas were a famous trapeze act. In the image it is possible to identify two yellow figures flying through the air. The black and yellow grid is their safety net beneath.