Hugo Birger was considered the most talented artist of his generation but was never to attain real success. In Paris he was a central figure in the circles around Carl Larsson and Ernst Josephson. After his stay in Paris, he travelled to Spain and North Africa. This painting depicts his fiancée and sister-in-law during prayers in Tangiers, but the motif recalls intimate and realistic depictions of moments in Paris, which often contain individuals dressed in black.