On July 17, 1856 Degas sailed from Marseilles to Naples, where he stayed with his grandfather and painted a portrait of his cousin Giovanna Bellelli (Lemoisne, vol. II, no. 10). Three months later he arrived in Rome. As did many French artists living in the capital, Degas found it difficult to hire good professional models at reasonable cost and took advantage of the evening life drawing sessions at the French Academy in the Villa Medici. The Academy had liberalized its regulations after the directorship of Ingres ended in 1840, opening many of its facilities to non-pensioners, who found it a convenient place to meet and study.

In August, 1857, Degas returned to Naples to stay again with his grandfather. He made a second visit to Rome in late October, and several months later met the painter Gustave Moreau (1826-1896) at the Villa Medici. Many of Degas's academic nude studies of this period bear inaccurate dates; the artist would frequently apply a generic dating when he later viewed these drawings. The present work can be dated more precisely by comparing it to a study drawn by Moreau, which the artist signed and dated 'Rome, 1858', in the collection of the Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris. The model in both Degas's and Moreau's studies (and in another by Henri Chapu in the David Daniels Collection) is the same. Indeed, Degas, Moreau and Chapu appear to have drawn him at the same time from different sides. Here the similarity ends, however, as Degas's mastery of the academic style is exceptional even at this early date. Degas gives equal weight to each part of the model's body, including the facial features and expression. Through sensitive use of line and shadow Degas skillfully depicts the sitter's powerful physique.