The Italian sculptor Orazio Andreoni was based in Rome but his works was exhibited as far as Glasgow, in 1888, and Berlin, in 1892, and is believed to have been active for a time in America. The exposure established his international reputation. Andreoni primarily specialised in historical and biblical subjects and his expertise with the stone is evident here in the magnificent handling of clothing, lace and hair, delighting in the richness of detail. Examples of the historic subjects he treated was such as figures of a Pharisee (Sydney Museum), Francesco da Rimini, Messalina, the Blind Nidia and Hamlet (Bournemouth).