Degas presented this portrait to his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Manet. Manet looks to be listening to the piano being played by his wife, but about one third of the canvas has been cut to hide her face. One theory has it that Manet didn't like how his wife was portrayed in the picture and cut the canvas. Later Degas saw it, got angry and brought the picture home. It was presumed that this work had been left in Degas' atelier and that, after his death, a canvas was added and a stamp similar to his signature was placed on it by an art dealer.