This sculpture was originally conceived as a monument for a French sports stadium; there is also a much larger version. The scarring and pitting on the sculpture suggest decay and anxiety, sentiments which are also evident in the post-war work of sculptors such as Alberto Giacometti, Lynn Chadwick and Reg Butler. The emphasis on decomposition and on the solitary, anguished figure was shared with many other artists and writers working in post-war Paris. This distinctive, emaciated figure contrasts sharply with the full, ripe forms of Maillol's work, which typifies French sculpture of the 1920s and 1930s.