Our Daily Bread was created after the Nationalmuseum had encouraged Zorn to paint a “patriotic” subject. It shows that Zorn had taken note of the clearly defined realistic French naturalism, though the actual motif was from Dalecarlia. The models are relatives of Zorn with his grandmother in the foreground. Zorn had them wearing elderly styles of clothing to create a sensation that he remembered from his childhood and which would inspire the result.