After Marini turned to sculpture in 1928 his works were almost exclusively limited to two themes; the female figure and the rider with a horse. The latter, according to Herbert Read: "is a symbol of man riding and controlling his instincts, the horse being the symbol of the animal component in man, often specifically the erotic instincts." (H. Read, op. cit., p. 11) His inspiration came from Etruscan art and other medieval equestrian statues rather than the classical Marcus Aurelius in Rome or other classical or Renaissance examples. At first he created a horse in a normal upright position with a rider but it gradually changed into many variations and, as the time went by, they became increasingly dramatic.

He first conceived the Miracolo subject circa 1943 and later he created Cavaliere both of which were variations of rider and horse. He kept working on those two themes intermittently. When asked about this, Marini said:

When you consider one by one my equestrian statues
of these past twelve years, you will notice each
time that the horseman is incapable of managing his
mount, and that the animal, in its restlessness ever
more riderless, comes more and more to a rigid
standstill instead of rearing. I believe in the most
serious way that we are heading toward the end of a
world. (Ibid., p. 187)