Alberto Giacometti intended this composition to be carved in stone on a large scale (the stele would have been approximately two meters in height), although we do not know for where or for whom. It would have been possible to sit or lean on the various parts. The stele, the cone, and the concave hemisphere were once detachable, and presumably Giacometti allowed that their positions may be altered and interchanged. It has been speculated that this represents a Garden of Eden from the Old Testament, with a tree, male and female, a serpent, and an enclosing wall.